Location
Nashville, TN
Solar Size
2,000kW
Equipment Installed
First Solar panels & SunGrow inverters
Mounting Type
Fixed Tilt Ballasted Ground Mount atop Landfill
“LightWave went above and beyond in terms of expertise and attention to detail while still making this the first project to come online under TVA’s DSS program.” – Tony Richman, Energy Services Engineering Manager at Nashville Electric Service
On August 1, 2018, less than four months after we started construction, LightWave Solar and Nashville Electric Service (NES) commissioned Music City Solar, the first community solar project in Nashville. With over 17,000 solar panels totaling 2MW, this system supplies NES with approximately 2.7 million kilowatt-hours of clean and renewable electricity each year, enough to power about 210 homes!
Now, all NES customers, even renters, have the opportunity to invest in local solar power. Participants can buy one or more panels for $215 each, and their monthly electric bills will show a solar credit. A unique part of Music City Solar is the Solar Angels program which makes it easy for participants to donate their credits to a low income household.
“We are proud of Music City Solar which gives more people in Nashville access to solar energy,” says NES Energy Services Engineering Manager, Tony Richman. “We relied on LightWave Solar to deliver a high quality system for our community. LightWave Solar went above and beyond in terms of expertise and attention to detail while still making this the first project to come online under the TVA’s Distributed Solar Solutions program,” Richman says.
The project utilizes an old waste disposal landfill in Madison, Tennessee, which has been closed and unused for over 40 years. Instead of penetrating the ground with poles, LightWave Solar installed concrete ballasts to hold down the arrays. The solar panels float on the surface and will be flexible to settling over time.
