Green Power Switch News
Vol. 3, No. 1— Winter 2003

Main story
University of Mississippi Intramural Fields Capture Solar Energy

New renewable energy source on Ole Miss intramural field is unveiled. (Photo by Robert Jordan, University of Mississippi.)

The intramural fields that promote healthy living and friendly competition among the University of Mississippi student body are now also a source of solar energy. A canopy of solar electric cells, which doubles as a source of shade for intramural spectators, was completed in September and generates up to 30 kilowatts of electricity—enough to supply up to four homes a day.

From left to right: Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth, University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat, TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough, Jr., North East Mississippi Electric Power Association General Manager Robert Collier and U.S. Congressman Roger Wicker. (Photo by Robert Jordan.)

“This program demonstrates how TVA, power distributors and the environmental community can work together to find ways to use renewable energy sources to produce electricity,” said TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough, Jr.

According to Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth, the city is “proud to partner with the University of Mississippi and TVA to promote green power.”

Florence Water Treatment Facility Dedicated
The Florence Water Treatment Facility is the most recent Green Power Switch solar generation to have been dedicated. The facility generates the newest source of renewable energy available to customers of four Shoals area utilities—The City of Florence Utilities, Muscle Shoals Electric Board, Sheffield Utilities and Tuscumbia Electric Department. A canopy of solar electric cells began producing electricity at the city facility in late summer. The solar array generates up to 30 kilowatts of electricity a year using 216 photovoltaic modules mounted on a canopy in the parking lot. The canopy is 121 feet, 7 inches long and 24 feet, 8 inches wide, with a lower height of 10 feet.

From left: TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough, Jr.; Richard Morrissey, Manager, Florence Electricity Department; David Thornton, Manager, Tuscumbia Electric Department; Rex Burleson, Chairman, Colbert County Commission; Jack Hilliard, General Manager of Florence Utilities; Forrest Wright, Executive Director, Shoals Economic Development Authority; Mayor David Bradford, The City of Muscle Shoals; Kurt Williams, TVA Public Power Institute; Samuel McEloroy, Member of the Sheffield Utilities Board; Harvey Casiday, Member of the Sheffield Utilities Board.

“The Florence solar site joins a network of 13 others around the Tennessee Valley that are turning sunlight into clean, renewable energy for the people of the Shoals and the entire region,” TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough, Jr. said.

In November, Chairman McCullough and representatives from Florence Utilities, Sheffield Utilities, Muscle Shoals Electric Board and the Tuscumbia Electric Department participated in a dedication ceremony at the solar generation site.

Comments or questions?
Green Power Switch News is a quarterly newsletter produced cooperatively by the Tennessee Valley Authority, distributors of TVA power, and the environmental community to provide information about the status and growth of Green Power Switch—a renewable energy option.

We’re interested in knowing what you’d like to read in future issues of Green Power Switch News. Please write us at the address below or send an e-mail message to greenpowerswitch@tva.com. We will be happy to notify you by e-mail when future issues are published at this site. Thanks for your help and your interest!

Gary H. Harris C.E.M.
Manager, Green Power Switch
P.O. Box 292409, OCP 2 - 400
Nashville, TN 37229-2409
(615) 232-6124  Fax: (615) 232-6038
ghharris@tva.gov

 

In this issue

University of Mississippi Intramural Fields Capture Solar Energy Also: Florence Water Treatment Facility Dedicated

Green Power Switch Receives 2002 National Award

Green Power Switch Undergoes A Successful First Audit

Updates: Generation and participation figures

Green Power Switch News Archive

Link to a PDF version of this issue (74 kb, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).