Solar Photovoltaic Installations

Project Description

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is utilizing the EPA Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Project to test the feasibility of a community solar business model within the Tennessee Valley region. This pilot program will be initiated by local power companies (LPCs) on behalf of their customers to prepare LPCs for future solar ownership and deployment scenarios.

A community solar business model involves the shared investment and associated benefits of a solar PV installation by multiple community partners. A community solar project provides an ideal platform to enable LPCs to play a more direct role in the deployment of distributed generation resources. Additionally, community solar projects allow end-use customers a new option to participate and engage in a solar PV project in a community-based format.

Project Implementation

TVA released a request for proposal (RFP) to the LPC community on November 4, 2014.  TVA ultimately received five project proposals from interested LPCs.  Proposals from two LPCs, Appalachian Electric Cooperative and EPB, were unanimously selected by the RFP review team.  The cumulative anticipated solar DC nameplate capacity from both LPCs will be 2.7 MW.  While TVA’s RFP specified a general Community Solar model construct, wide latitude is granted to both LPCs to design products that best meet the needs of their customers.