First of its kind Tenn. solar project to break ground

First of its kind Tenn. solar project to break groundWhen the West Tennessee Solar Farm, the largest project in Tennessee, breaks ground April 12, it will showcase a unique state-initiated project.

Leaders in the state realized a couple years ago that companies were moving to Tennessee to open solar manufacturing facilities and that large existing employers, like Sharp, were switching over to the solar.

“Sizeable companies were making big investments in solar here,” said Paula Flowers, project director for the solar farm.

And the state wanted to encourage that growth and spur it on, she said.

Leaders put together a package and submitted an application for American Reinvestment and Recovery funds. It received $62 million from the Department of Energy and used half of that to create its Tennessee Solar Institute, which strives to increase solar economic development through helping solar industry businesses establish themselves and grow in the state and by offering incentives for solar installation.

The other half funded the 5-megawatt solar farm that will break ground this week.

The array will be located right along Interstate 40 near the University of Tennessee, Flowers said. Thousands of people will drive past the site daily.

“We decided we wanted to do something that would really make a statement,” she said.

There will be an information and visitor’s center in the center of the solar array just off the highway and the hope is that passers-by will stop to learn about solar energy, the array and the state’s innovative approach to growing its clean energy industry, Flowers said.

The state initiated this project and signed a power-purchase agreement the Tennessee Valley Authority, the local electric utility.

Revenues will go to the University of Tennessee. The land the array will occupy belongs to the state school.

It’s a large swath of undeveloped acreage close to the school and in a highly visible area.

“We called it a farm because the concept is that it will grow over the years,” Flowers said. “We have 200 acres there.”