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March 08, 2022 | Tom Ballard

Solar Alliance spotlights several projects including deployment of the Powershed device

Solar Alliance Energy Inc., the Knoxville-based source for solar power in the Southeastern U.S., has announced several major projects including one involving the deployment of a novel technology that we spotlighted in this April 2021 teknovation.biz article.

Roughly 18 months ago, Solar Alliance executed a license with the University of Tennessee (UT) Research Foundation for something called the Powershed, a solar powered charging station for robotic lawnmowers. The device was the brainchild of Matt Layne, Turf Manager at UT, Knoxville, who had several goals in mind . . . from addressing the lack of electricity in hard-to-mow parts of the campus to reducing the carbon footprint.

Now, Solar Alliance, in partnership with ECHO Robotics, is bringing the quietest, cleanest, and newest way to manicure green spaces into Florida communities starting in the oldest city in the country. Flagler Power Equipment recently installed the state’s first Powershed system in St. Augustine so that veteran landscapers of J.M. Baker Company can maintain grassy common areas for a housing development in the city.

To learn more, read the Solar Alliance news release (Solar Alliance Powershed_St. Augustine).

Three other projects are closer to home.

  • One involves the design, engineer, and install a 526 kW roof mount solar system at AESSEAL’s U.S. headquarters in nearby Rockford. Construction should begin next month with a completion date targeted for the end of October 2022. Solar Alliance will be working with Boyd CAT, a regional Caterpillar dealer, on the project which features CAT solar panels. This project joins several other large contracts for Solar Alliance, including a separate 526 kW solar system in Tennessee contracted out in late 2021 as well as a contract to build another 500 kW solar system in Kentucky.
  • Another involves CAC Beardsley Community Farm, Knoxville’s leader in food security and sustainability education, that will now be able to generate a portion of its power from a new 2.7 kilowatt photovoltaic array being installed on site. This will allow power from the sun to offset part of the traditional electric supply needed to support gardening, food pantry and classroom activities.
  • The final one is the design and installation of a 1 MW solar project for the Knoxville Utilities Board.

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