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Solar power in Tennessee

Solar power in Tennessee is capable of producing much of the state's electricity; however, the industry remains in early stages in the state. With 129 MW of solar power in 2015, Tennessee ranked 20th among states for installed solar capacity.[2]

1 MW Shelby Farms Solar Farm[1]
Simplified schematic of a grid-connected residential photovoltaics power system

In 2012, Tennessee's largest solar installation was the 5 MW West Tennessee Solar Farm.[3]

In 2013, Volkswagen opened an 8 MW solar farm at its assembly plant in Chattanooga.[4] The largest solar installations in Tennessee in 2014 were the 20 MW Selmer and 20 MW Mulberry Solar Farms in McNairy County.[2]

In 2015, White Farms, a grain farm in rural Carroll County, installed a 49.725 kW solar array.[5]

A 68.5 MW(DC) (53 MW(AC)) solar farm near Millington became the state's largest solar installation in 2019.[6][7][8]

Rooftop solar

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Solar panel installation, Music City Center

Photovoltaic panels installed on rooftops is estimated to be capable of producing 23% of all electricity used in Tennessee,[9] with 16,000 MW of solar panels.[10]

Federal law requires net metering upon request, but Tennessee is one of only four states without established policy, meaning that it needs to be negotiated with the utility. A more practical approach is to assume net metering by each utility. Net metering is simply an accounting procedure, and the only requirement is a bi-directional electric meter. Most meters are bi-directional. It is more practical for utilities to discover net metering instead of requiring registration and reporting, just as there is no registration or reporting requirement in connecting an air conditioner, which is instead discovered by utilities. Best practices call for perpetual roll over of kilowatt credits instead of converting to a monetary value.[11]

A 2012 estimate suggests that a typical 5 kW system will pay for itself in about 14 years, and thereafter generate a net savings of $16,622 over the 25 year life of the system.[12]

Climate impact

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Solar installation, Knoxville

Solar power installations in Tennessee have a relatively high climate impact, because almost 25% of the state's electrical generation (as of 2021) comes from coal.[13]

A Nashville-based startup, Clearloop, is targeting solar installations based on three criteria: “Where are the sunniest places? Where’s the grid the dirtiest? And where can a dollar invested in infrastructure go the longest way?”[13] The company's first installation, in Jackson, has capacity to power about 200 homes. Clearloop plans to build additional installations based on investment by companies which want to transition to 100% renewable electricity or offset corporate emissions.[13]

Statistics

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Source: NREL[14]
Tennessee Photovoltaics Capacity (MWp)[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]
Year Capacity Installed % Change
2007 0.4 0 0%
2008 0.4 0 0%
2009 0.9 0.5 125%
2010 5.7 4.8 533%
2011 22.0 16.3 286%
2012 45.0 23.0 105%
2013 64.8 19.8 44%
2014 110 45.2 70%
2015 129 19 17%
2016 163 34 26%
2017 230 67 41%
2018 262 32 14%
2019 350.8 88.8 34%
2020 356.1 5.3 1.5%
2021 367.9 11.8 %
2022 779 411.1 %
Utility-scale solar generation in Tennessee (GWh)[22]
Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2013 21 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
2014 26 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4
2015 79 4 5 7 8 8 8 8 8 7 6 5 5
2016 78 3 6 5 6 8 7 9 8 8 7 6 5
2017 91 4 5 8 8 10 10 9 9 8 9 6 5
2018 166 9 7 14 16 17 17 19 18 16 15 9 9
2019 327 11 12 27 33 39 36 37 36 36 23 22 15
2020 325 15 17 21 33 38 39 38 33 28 25 21 17
2021 245 17 17 27 36 38 37 37 36

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Agricenter turning sunshine into electricity
  2. ^ a b Tennessee fact sheet, SEIA, accessed June 4, 2016
  3. ^ West Tennessee Solar Farm
  4. ^ Volkswagen powers up 33-acre solar park in Tenn., Erik Schelzig, Associated Press, USA Today, January 23, 2013
  5. ^ Smith, Kathy (2015-08-14). "USDA RD Assists White Farms with Solar Array Purchase". USDA Rural Development. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  6. ^ State’s largest solar array planned for Millington, Tom Charlier, The Commercial Appeal, April 19, 2016
  7. ^ Clark, Tish (April 23, 2019). "Millington goes green with the largest solar farm in Tennessee". ABC 24, localmemphis.com. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  8. ^ Gordon, Philip (2020-06-20). "Counting sheep at Tennessee's 53MW Millington Solar Farm". Smart Energy International. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  9. ^ Report Argues for a Decentralized System of Renewable Power Generation
  10. ^ U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials pg. 12
  11. ^ Best Practices in Net Metering
  12. ^ Tennessee
  13. ^ a b c Peters, Adele (2021-08-31). "This startup helps build solar farms where the grid is dirtiest". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  14. ^ "PV Watts". NREL. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  15. ^ Sherwood, Larry (June 2011). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2011-06-29.
  16. ^ Sherwood, Larry (July 2010). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2009" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-09-25. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  17. ^ Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  18. ^ Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  19. ^ Sherwood, Larry (July 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2012" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  20. ^ Sherwood, Larry (July 2014). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2013" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2014-09-26.
  21. ^ "Tennessee Solar". Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  22. ^ "Electricity Data Browser". U.S. Department of Energy. March 28, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
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