Commercial, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  December 7, 2018

Chattanooga airport first to hit 100% solar

The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport will become the first in the U.S. to run on 100% solar power.

A report from Bloomberg says the airport is currently installing solar panels, which should be able to derive all its power needs starting at the end of December. The report said that this development, “marks a turn of events that might have shocked newscaster Walter Cronkite, who once declared the south Tennessee town “the dirtiest city in America."

The airport’s solar farm includes storage units to help power operations after sundown. The system, with a life expectancy of 30 to 40 years, was funded primarily from Federal Aviation Administration grants and is expected to pay for itself in less than 20 years.

The report, noting that the project “could signal a new era in aviation,” reported that that “representatives from nearly 50 airports, ranging from islands in the Caribbean to oil shale-rich Jordan, have traveled to Chattanooga or otherwise reached out to learn about the project since the city launched the effort seven years ago.”