Note: This story was updated at 9:25 a.m. April 29.
A Tennessee solar company and the German Energy Agency, or dena, celebrated their first U.S. solar project Thursday, a 50 kilowatt photovoltaic solar array at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge.
The array includes seven ground-mounted trackers that are 20 feet high. They each include 28-30 solar panels. The trackers adjust themselves to capture the most sunlight, using two sensors each to adjust from east to west and tilting up and down.
It’s a public-private partnership involving dena and Vis Solis LLC of Franklin, Tenn., a subsidiary of Vis Solis GmbH in Breesen, Germany. Also involved is German manufacturer DEGERenergie.
It’s a $250,000 to $300,000 investment, said Carlos Mayer, Vis Solis chief executive officer. [Read more…]