TENNESSEE EPA LIKES SUN

West Tennessee Solar Farm Receives Environmental Approval; U.S. Dept. of Energy Issues Finding of No Significant Impact, Project Moves Forward
February 3, 2011 (University of Tennessee Media Resources)

"…[T]he U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has completed its environmental review for the West Tennessee Solar Farm in Haywood County and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), which means the project complies with all applicable federal regulation for environmental protection. The review was conducted under guidelines specified in the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA] and was part of the requirement for utilizing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for the project. The finding allows site preparation and installation to begin on the five-megawatt solar array…

"…[The West Tennessee Solar Farm will sit on 200 acres of land adjacent to Interstate 40 in Haywood County and will be one of the largest solar installations in the Southeast U.S…[T]he Solar Farm…[will have] more than 21,000 silicon-based photovoltaic modules producing more than 7,000,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. Development of the Solar Farm is being managed by the University of Tennessee which has contracted with Chattanooga-based Signal Energy as the project’s design/build firm…"

Tennessee is building sun, (click to enlarge)

"In addition to the solar arrays, the Solar Farm will also be home to a welcome center in which visitors will be able to view and learn more about the capabilities of solar power generation. Approximately 9 million vehicles pass the Solar Farm annually.

"The West Tennessee Solar Farm is part of the Volunteer State Solar Initiative, created to benefit the Tennessee economy by using federal ARRA dollars to create jobs and provide support to a growing solar industry…"

Every state CAN build sun. (click to enlarge)

"…Under the VSSI, $31 million in ARRA funds will be used to install the Solar Farm and the Tennessee Solar Institute will use $23.5 million to issue grants from the Solar Opportunity Fund, a program designed to underwrite the installation of next generation energy efficiency systems by Tennessee businesses and to provide training, technology and technical assistance to companies in the solar industry value chain…

"…When fully implemented, programs associated with VSSI will have made possible the installation of at least 12 megawatts of renewable energy generating capacity in Tennessee. In addition to broadening the adoption of new clean energy technologies, the VSSI is also designed to facilitate the training of Tennesseans in new skills and the sharing of ‘best business practices’ across Tennessee’s burgeoning renewable energy industry…"