From left, BrightRidge CEO Jeff Dykes; Bob Cantler, vice-chair of the BrightRidge board of directors; Matt Kisber, CEO of Silicon Ranch; Dave Riken of McCarthy Building Companies; BrightRidge board member and Washington County mayor-elect Joe Grandy; BrightRidge board member and Johnson City vice-mayor Jenny Brock; Laura Duncan TVA senior program manager and Gary Mabry, president and CEO of the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce break ground on a new solar farm that will be constructed near David Crockett High School. PHOTO BY DAVE ONGIE
Joined by BrightRidge board members, officials and the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce at the site, BrightRidge CEO Jeff Dykes announced that 500 kilowatts of the project capacity will be offered exclusively to BrightRidge customers on a monthly or long-term lease basis in lieu of installing solar panels directly on a business, school or residential property.
“Many of our commercial and residential customers are unable to access the benefits of solar because they can’t afford the cost of installation, live in multifamily buildings, or their rooftops cannot support the weight of solar panels,” Dykes said. “BrightRidge is pleased to lead the way with a community solar offering that provides access to all of our customers, regardless of circumstance, so they can purchase clean power direct without the expense and upkeep of installing panels on their private property.”
Silicon Ranch expects to invest millions of dollars in private capital to build the solar farm, which should generate about 8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, with zero carbon emissions and zero water consumption.
“As Tennessee’s largest independent solar power producer, Silicon Ranch is honored to partner with BrightRidge and TVA to generate low-cost, clean energy and support economic development in our home state,” said Silicon Ranch CEO Matt Kisber. “We’re currently building solar farms from Memphis to the Tri-Cities, proving that solar has a bright future in the Tennessee Valley.”
When completed by the end of the year, the project will produce enough carbon-free electricity to power more than 500 homes over the course of a year as weather conditions permit. Approximately 40 acres will be covered by solar panels.
“Access to clean, renewable energy is a key factor for many potential businesses and industries looking to locate in our region,” Dykes said. “Facilities like this one help ensure our region remains competitive nationally in economic development.”
The solar facility, owned by Silicon Ranch and constructed by McCarthy Building Companies, will deploy 41,760 solar panel modules manufactured by First Solar. These modules will be mounted on 2,262 single-axis piles guided by 174 trackers. In all, 88 inverters will convert the generated electricity to alternating current prior to delivery to the grid.
“This project is more than clean, low-cost energy – it demonstrates the value of public power by directly connecting our community with a cleaner future,” said Jay Stowe, senior vice president of Distributed Energy Resources for TVA. “Over the next 20 years TVA plans to invest about $8 billion to support our renewable energy portfolio to help our customers meet their carbon reduction goals.”
During construction, McCarthy will hire approximately 50-100 workers, most of them local. Since the project is privately owned by Silicon Ranch, it is also net positive for the local tax base with minimal demands placed on public infrastructure.
For more information and sign-up details on the BrightRidge Community Solar offering, please visit BrightRidge.com.
