CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Clarksville is once again opening its doors to innovation, this time in the form of a 6.7 megawatt solar farm project.  

“Solar is growing, not just across Tennessee, but across the country,” said Matt Kisber, Silicon Ranch Co-Founder and chairman of the board. 

CDE Lightband, Silicon Ranch, and the Tennessee Valley Authority teamed up for this massive project, projected to go online in January 2024. The project is expected to produce enough energy to power 1,060 homes per year for the next three decades.  

“It’s the lowest cost of new form energy generation,” Kisber said.  

In addition to cost savings for customers’ power bills, the project is also expected to drive economic development. 

“A lot of companies are looking for green power, so this is another way we can attract businesses to Clarksville,” explained Brian Taylor, general manager of CDE Lightband. 

The project could also address infrastructure needs, like what we saw during last winter’s flash freeze that resulted in wide-spread power outages. 

“Solar power is a form of distributed generation. It can go many different places on the grid, so it can help provide power where power is needed,” Kisber said. “I wish I had this up and running this past December, that would have given us 6.7 megawatts on our system, and we would not have had to turn some of our folks off.” 

“What this will do with this solar farm, it will be connected to our internal substations and our internal distribution system. So, therefore, if there were ever a chance or an opportunity that TVA did not generate power, we would have our own power source,” Taylor added.  

The solar panels used in the project will have a life expectancy of 30 to 40 years. After their life cycle, Kisber explained to News 2 Silicon Ranch’s partnership in which their panels are removed and recycled. You can watch his explanation below.

In the process of building the solar farm, the project will mean 100 new construction jobs for the city.