The Antigo Public Library won a $229,540 competitive statewide grant from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s Energy Innovation Grant Program. This grant will install a 87.8 kW solar roofing system on the East, South, and West sides of the library roof. It also includes a Tesla Powerwall battery backup to run critical infrastructure such as fire suppression and public wi-fi in case of power outage.
 
This statewide competitive grant had 108 applications and 32 winners including the Antigo Library.  $7 million in projects were funded for this funding cycle. All panels and inverters have 25 year warranties and are made in the USA.  Installation will be done by Northwind Solar from Amherst with a 10 year labor warranty and they have been in business for 80 years.
 
The Antigo Library Foundation’s share of this grant is $40,000 for which the Library Foundation is matching all donations. Contributions for towards this and other Foundation projects can be submitted online at  antigopl.org/library-foundation/.
 
“I’m beyond thrilled to have won this grant”, said Dominic Frandrup, library director. “It’s been a couple of years in the making and a huge accomplishment for the Library Foundation and the Antigo Library. The library strives to be a leader in our community and this project proves we have the vision and the ability to accomplish that. My thanks to Angie Close at Langlade County Economic Development and Deena Grabowsky at the Chamber of Commerce for their letters of support for this project.”