Here in the snowy South today we are seeing what we haven't seen enough of this week - the Sun! Our radiating friend is making the landscape visible again. In recent years we have begun to appreciate solar power not just for its snow removal powers, but for its ability to generate electricity. On a trip to Spain last summer I was amazed to see fields of solar panels capturing that clean and precious energy. We have come a long way in this country as well. McCollum Airport, a small field in Kennesaw, Georgia, and home to 350 aircraft, has recently put solar power to work, using a new solar energy array.
"You don't have to be in Arizona or Florida for these to work well," said longtime Cobb County resident and entrepreneur Doug Warner. As CEO of Stonehenge Solar Energy, a Cobb-based company that developed and built the 140-kilowatt solar array on top of a row of aircraft hangars at McCollum, Warner maintains that the system works best on sunny days, but it still creates energy through the clouds.
The recently completed solar array is the largest such installation at a general aviation airport, Warner said. It will generate 200,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually and prevent seven million pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted over its 30-year lifespan.
The project was commissioned by Warner and Thomas Huff, CEO of Atlanta Jet Center, a landing fixed base operator, or FBO, at the airport. Huff's company rents space in the county-owned airport and pays for its own utility costs.
Airport manager Karl Von Hagel said the county will retain the solar array after Atlanta Jet Center's lease expires in 2026. But Von Hagel said going green is what really matters to the airport.
"It just makes us a good partner with the environment," Von Hagel said. "The county's role was really to work in cooperation with our tenant, Atlanta Executive Jet Center. It brings us one more opportunity to share with our flying community that we're doing everything we can to make our carbon footprint as small as we can."
The Jet Center firm secured federal stimulus grants to cover much of the $1.4 million cost of the array, Warner said. The money came from the Department of Energy and was administered by the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority.
The solar array will generate about $40,000 worth of energy this year, a figure that Warner expects will increase to about $55,000 as energy prices rise when the economy rebounds. Excess energy created by the array will be sold back to Georgia Power.
Solar panels are suitable for both residential and commercial use. They provide a much needed alternative energy source that will lower utility bills and reduce carbon emissions. For more information contact Stonehenge Solar Energy at www.stonehengesolar.com
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