Mitch Littfin is using solar to power the growth of his architectural design business in Winsted, Minnesota, a town of 2,000 about 45 minutes west from the Twin Cities.

Reliable and affordable power can be crucial to keeping and growing professional businesses in rural communities, like Littfin Design. Winsted is a “very close-knit community,” Littfin said. “A lot of families have been here for well over 100 years. And it’s a great community for business. A lot of people have started businesses and stayed here.” He said the town nearly doubles its population during business hours.

Littfin’s own family has been involved in construction since immigrating to Winsted generations ago. Growing up with the family’s large lumberyard, Littfin was exposed to woodworking from a young age and developed a love of construction and design. He went to school for architectural design and drafting and was hired by a national builder, KHOV, in the early 2000s. As construction boomed, “it was trial by fire,” he said.

In 2016, he started his own design business. “I love where we’re at,” Littfin said. “We’re out in the country, but we’re just at arm’s reach.”

Littfin Design creates unique, customizable homes, with an emphasis on keeping them “buildable” with cost-effective building methods. They also do additions, remodels, garages, decks, multifamily homes, small commercial buildings and community projects, including church restorations and a veterans’ memorial.

Littfin Design received a Rural Energy For America Program (REAP) grant in 2019 and is finalizing the paperwork for an additional REAP grant, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. “Our business has grown since 2019, when we got the first one,” Littfin said. “It felt like a great time to compensate for the additional power that we are using.”

In the last five years, the company has grown from two to six people. Energy savings have helped the company expand. “That power is crucial to our computers, printers and other technology we use here,” Littfin said.

This year, the business roughly doubled its solar energy production capacity, from 15 to about 33 kilowatts. Littfin worked with a local solar provider who made it a “very straightforward and very easy process,” he said.

“We noticed immediately a difference in our power bill,” Littfin said. The business went from a power bill between $200-$350 to $0-$60 per month. “If you do the math, you can see how much money you can save over the course of a year. It’s a great investment.”

During some seasons, the array can even generate more than the business needs. “We had some additional funds come toward us as the summer months approached,” Littfin said.

REAP also helped fund other upgrades to cut down on energy costs, including a more efficient heating and cooling system with air-source heat pumps. Littfin Design also purchased an electric truck that can be charged using the solar panels, therefore reducing fuel costs.

The company’s office is built from “bunkwood,” the junk wood packed around more valuable lumber shipped by rail to the lumberyard. In the summer, they open the huge garage doors of the former woodworking shop. In the winter, Littfin lights a large, wood-burning stove.

The solar savings with the REAP investment will help Littfin’s business on its growth trajectory. As the business develops relationships with more builders, he anticipates doubling in size and potentially starting a satellite office. “It absolutely helped us grow our company,” he said.