A 'win-win'

Solar farm yields affordable, sustainable energy for MTE members

Big things are happening on a small plot of land in Rutherford County, and MTE members are benefiting
as a result.

A solar farm in Rutherford County’s Christiana community began harvesting the sun’s rays last June. The initiative provides an additional energy source to help MTE meet members’ growing demand for power. At the same time,
it diversifies the co-op’s energy generation mix, giving members access to renewable electricity.

A third benefit provides even better news: This solar power is saving the co‑op money on its wholesale power costs.

“This isn’t solar for the sake of solar — this renewable energy is having a positive impact on the affordability of the
electricity we deliver to members,” said Brandon Wagoner, MTE’s vice president of strategy execution and analytics.

The co-op has exclusive access to the bargain-priced electricity the solar array yields — despite investing nothing to construct the project or footing the bill for its operation.“There’s no downside here. This project is a win-win for co-op members,” Wagoner said.

Striking a good deal

The Christiana solar farm began as part of a larger initiative involving the Tennessee Valley Authority, the primary generator of electricity distributed by MTE.

When studies and industry analyses confirmed new utility-scale renewable projects could deliver power
at a lower cost than traditional sources, TVA began collaborating with MTE to incorporate solar projects into its energy mix.

The opportunity to deliver cost effective energy that’s renewable doesn’t happen very often, Wagoner explained. “The cost of everything is going up and up. So, when you have a chance to do something that can bring costs down, you jump on it.”

This led MTE to sign a solar agreement with Silicon Ranch, a national leader in the installation and operation of utility-scale solar projects. On behalf of MTE, the Nashville-based company agreed to fund, construct, own, operate and maintain a solar farm within the co-op’s service area.

“Solar can be very expensive, so this partnership with Silicon Ranch was a
great opportunity for us,” Wagoner said.

Those driving along Christiana Road, a state road that juts off Highway 231 a few miles south of the Murfreesboro city limits, can’t miss the resulting solar farm. Interconnected panels of photovoltaic cells stand like dedicated soldiers, reliably following and harvesting sunlight and converting it into electricity. That electricity feeds directly into MTE’s power grid.

“All we pay for is the electricity being generated, which we’d be buying anyway,” Wagoner said. “Because of the deal we’ve made, we’re able to buy it for slightly less than our typical TVA wholesale power costs, which are already some of the lowest in country’s lowest.”

The Christiana project’s best financial benefits are still to come, Wagoner believes. “While it doesn’t immediately lower the co-op’s existing rates, incorporating a nontraditional power source into the energy mix can help us manage costs to
keep rates stable,” he said.

Cost-efficient sustainability

Beyond the affordability factor, the solar facility addresses the concerns of members who want to be responsible with
their energy use, Wagoner said.

“Some of our members are very conscious of the climate impact associated with energy,” he said. “The Christiana project allows us to be a good steward of member resources while also diversifying our energy generation portfolio to give these members the sustainability they want.”

The Rutherford County solar farm is projected to generate about 7,200 megawatt-hours of power annually. That’s
enough to replace the wholesale power used by about 500 member homes per year, Wagoner estimates.

Checking the boxes

Wagoner says the renewable energy project addresses the co-op’s core objectives. “It’s affordable, reliable, safe and helps MTE make good on our promise to provide outstanding member service,” he continued. “It checks all the boxes.” MTE’s reliance on cost-effective renewables will continue to expand.

The Christiana site is one of two projects in development with Silicon Ranch. The second, a site in Cumberland County, will be the largest solar facility to serve a local power company directly in the Tennessee Valley. Construction is slated for completion in late 2027.

The cows are coming

Here’s a new word for you: agrivoltaics. It’s defined as the integration of solar energy production and agriculture. The next big thing in advancing this holistic practice is set for the Christiana solar farm — a pasture turned into a power plant and cattle ranch — that’s supplying MTE with renewable electricity.

The Rutherford County property is ground zero for testing Silicon Ranch’s double-patented CattleTracker rotational grazing system. It is the world’s first commercially viable rotational grazing technology that allows for co-locating cattle farming and utility-scale solar arrays.

“The Christiana Solar Farm is a model for a farm-friendly energy future that honors tradition while driving innovation,” said Nick de Vries, chief technology officer for Silicon Ranch and principal investigator for the CattleTracker research program. As part of the continuing research effort, a herd of South Pole beef cattle will begin testing the system later this spring while feeding on pasture underneath and around the solar arrays, known as solar grazing.

The test is the culmination of research and development by a global contingent of scientists and cattle farmers. It builds and expands on Silicon Ranch’s successful work in sheep grazing, first introduced in 2020 to maintain agricultural production and provide natural “mowers” at solar sites in Georgia. The company now has about 8,000 sheep grazing at solar developments across the Southeast.

Cattle present bigger challenges for the researchers. Solar panels can be vulnerable to damage from the greater weight and height of grazing cows versus compact sheep that can easily walk underneath them. The living laboratory at the Christiana site will allow researchers to study cattle behavior, welfare and ecological impacts while also testing solar installation structures.