Solar to power two Shelby County buildings, part of commitment to a greener county

Shelby County Government has installed solar arrays at two of its buildings, part of an initiative by Mayor Lee Harris to move toward a greener county.

The arrays, which will be turned on in late February, are intended to provide 100% of the power needed for the county’s Construction Code Enforcement building, located at 6465 Mullins Station Road, and the East Data Center, located at 6470 Haley Road.

“The solar array project is critically important for our community for a variety of reasons … one is the project is expected to bring savings,” Harris said in a news conference Monday. “That’s savings to our pocketbook but also savings to our environment.”

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The total cost of the two solar arrays is $589,000 to the county, but the federal government will provide a rebate for some of that cost, bringing the total down to $412,000, Harris said.

If necessary, the power grid can supplement the two buildings, such as during winter when there is less sun, said John Zeanah, director of the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development.

And, when there is surplus power, the county has signed an agreement with Memphis, Light, Gas and Water to sell that surplus back to the grid.

The construction of the solar arrays also comes at a time when the federal government is encouraging the use of solar. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, signed into law in August, brings the “residential clean energy credit,” which applies to things like the installation of solar panels, back up to 30%. The credit is retroactive to the beginning of 2022 and applies the year the project was finished.

According to the federal Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, more than 3% of U.S. electricity currently comes from solar.

In Shelby County, nearly three-fourths of the county government’s greenhouse gas emissions can be tied back to buildings, Zeanah said.

The installation follows Harris in August signing an executive order saying his government will give priority to the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles and will install electric vehicle charging stations at county-owned facilities.

County commissioners on Monday are expected to consider passing an ordinance on the county’s green fleet. If approved, it would seek to ensure a minimum of 5% of the light duty and passenger vehicle fleet under the mayor’s administration are green vehicles by the end of 2027. And starting in 2028, a minimum of 50% of eligible light duty and passenger vehicles purchased or leased would be green vehicles.

Sandra Perry, chief information officer for the county, said the East Data Center currently relies on the electrical grid with generators for backup. That and another center downtown provide all the technology needs for Shelby County Government.

Relying on MLGW with generators “was always an unstable word for us,” Perry said.

“Putting the solar panels in the midst of this gives us a three-pronged approach now,” Perry said. “We’ve increased our resiliency.”

Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Solar to power two Shelby County buildings