James Smith, the board chairman of BrightRidge, left, and Matt Kisber, co-founder and chairman of Silicon Ranch, flip the ceremonial switch on operation of Washington County's second solar farm on Thursday.
The 24,375 solar panels at the Martin Solar Farm, which began operation in 2022, are capable of generating 9 megawatts of power. The new solar lab will feature 800 fixed solar panels, which brings a third type of solar power generation to BrightRidge’s energy portfolio.
James Smith, the board chairman of BrightRidge, left, and Matt Kisber, co-founder and chairman of Silicon Ranch, flip the ceremonial switch on operation of Washington County's second solar farm on Thursday.
The 24,375 solar panels at the Martin Solar Farm, which began operation in 2022, are capable of generating 9 megawatts of power. The new solar lab will feature 800 fixed solar panels, which brings a third type of solar power generation to BrightRidge’s energy portfolio.
The sun peeked out from a gray veil of winter clouds Thursday just moments before local officials ceremoniously flipped the switch on a second solar farm in rural Washington County.
“This is an exceptional site and shows that you can put a solar farm in the mountains of East Tennessee,” BrightRidge CEO Jeffrey Dykes said during the dedication of the 9-megawatt Martin Solar Farm, located on 104 acres of former farmland at 215 Martin Road.
The new solar farm is owned and operated by Nashville-based Silicon Ranch, and was developed in partnership with BrightRidge and the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Generation Flexibility program.
Don Moul, TVA’s executive vice president and chief operations officer, noted the Martin Solar Farm is the first project completed under the program, which was created to help TVA and its power providers meet their goals of providing renewable energy to their customers.
He said the solar farm will also reduce the public utility’s “carbon footprint in the Tennessee Valley” and attract new jobs to the region.
James Smith, BrightRidge’s board chairman, also said the Martin Solar Farm “will impact the quality of life for generations to come.”
The Martin Solar Farm will generate nearly twice the electricity of a similar Silicon Ranch operation in Telford, which became the first solar energy-producing facility in the region when it went into operation in early 2019.
The new facility is named for the late Ralph Martin, who served many years as a director of the Johnson City Power Board before it became BrightRidge. The energy farm has 24,375 solar panels that track the sun each day and is located on land once owned by Martin.
BrightRidge officials say Martin Solar Farm will generate clean energy that will be made available to East Tennessee State University, local schools and other pubic institutions throughout the region.
Matt Kisber, co-founder and chairman of Silicon Ranch, told local leaders on Thursday he believes solar energy is “truly an economic tool” to be used by business recruiters. He said his solar energy company continues to grow “across the country,” thanks in part to the “innovative leadership” of his partners at BrightRidge and TVA.
Officials with BrightRidge sent a letter last month to residents who live near a 50-acre tract off Ned King Road in Piney Flats, notifying them of the utility’s preliminary plans to work with Silicon Ranch to develop a 4-megawatt solar farm in the area.
Dykes wrote in the letter that Silicon Ranch plans “to purchase the land, construct, operate and maintain” a solar farm in Sullivan County. He said the facility is estimated to generate “8.6 million kWh annually, which could power an entire year’s use for almost 600 homes.”
Robert Houk has served as a journalist and photographer at the Press since 1987. He is a recipient of the Associated Press Managing Editors Malcom Law Award for investigative reporting.
