Suniva powers 1 MW solar farm at Chattanooga airport

NORCROSS, USA: Suniva, Inc., a US manufacturer of high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells and modules, announced that it is powering a 1 megawatt (MW) solar farm at the Chattanooga Airport.

Implemented by Inman Solar, the 1 MW installation is the first phase of a 3MW project by the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority (CMAA), designed to reduce pollution, waste and energy consumption.

“Building a solar farm that generates enough power for an entire airport to become energy self-sufficient is an ambitious project. A key element of this is ensuring that the technology we use is of the highest caliber,” said Mark Jones, Inman Solar. “Suniva’s solar modules have some of the highest quality of any solar product on the market, helping us generate more power with a reduced footprint. We’re excited to embark on the first phase and look forward to finalizing the project.”

Since December, the solar farm has generated nearly 90,000 kilowatt hours of electricity with no pollution. Had the same amount of power been generated with fossil fuels, more than 62-tons of carbon dioxide would have been emitted into the atmosphere.

“This is the first step in a historic project that will provide a clean and renewable source of energy on land that was unusable for aviation,” said John Baumstark, CEO of Suniva. “The solar plant is representative of the type of innovation that will help deliver a more sustainable future for Tennessee and the US.”

Suniva's high-efficiency modules carry a 10 year workmanship guarantee and a 25 year linear power performance warranty, assuring that solar module power output shall not decrease by more than 0.7 percent per year after the initial year of service. Suniva Optimus modules contain more than 80 percent US content and comply with “Buy American” requirements.