An 11th Arkansas electric cooperative is plugging into solar power.
Clay County Electric Cooperative announced Thursday that it is partnering with Today’s Power Inc., the cooperatives’ own solar installation company, to build a 1-megawatt solar array outside the utility’s headquarters in Corning.
The project, like many designed and built by TPI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc., will feature 3,700 photovoltaic panels on a single-axis sun-tracking system, all installed on 8 acres near the co-op’s offices.
The system is designed to mitigate CCEC’s peak summer demand. The cooperative serves more than 12,000 member accounts in Clay, Greene, Randolph and Sharp counties in Arkansas, as well as Butler, Ripley and Oregon counties in Missouri.
“We are pleased to add solar energy to our reliable energy resources,” General Manager David Smith said in a statement. “We are eager to measure and track the energy generated by the array for educational purposes.”
Today’ Power’s president, Michael Henderson, praised CCEC and its board for forward thinking. “We are very excited to partner with CCEC,” he said, noting the arrangement “will save CCEC members substantially over the next 25-30 years and stimulate the economy of Clay County and Corning.”
