Sowing Green Energy

Smyrna solar farm sowing green energy

Schneider Electric unveils 6-acre, $6.25M project

Jul. 26, 2011 - In 98-degree weather with the sun shining brightly above them, hundreds of employees and a handful of local dignitaries gathered under a tent at 11 a.m. Monday to celebrate the new 6-acre solar farm at Schneider Electric.

Adjacent to the celebration sits a field of roughly 3,500 solar panels that pull enough energy from the sun to power 25 percent of Schneider Electric's 195,000-square-foot Smyrna facility at 330 Weakley Lane. The energy management company, which employs 1,250 people in the state, also has facilities in La Vergne and Nashville and has operations in more than 100 countries.

The $6.25 million solar farm is one of three in the state at the 1 megawatt level, though the panels aren't always generating an entire megawatt. Monday afternoon, a screen in the breakroom at Schneider showed that the solar farm was generating 721 kilowatts of power.

"This morning at 7 o'clock, we were producing 10 kilowatts when the sun was just coming over the trees," explained Facilities Manager Edwin Wilhite.

Wilhite said the solar farm was 15 months in the making with 10 months of engineering and five months of construction. Schneider Electric signed a 10-year contract with Tennessee Valley Authority to sell its solar power and then buy it back. Schneider also received at 30 percent federal tax credit. read more>>>