Inman Solar looks to expand solar facility in Cedartown
Expansion to add second megawatt of capactiy at Northside Industrial Park
The Cedartown De-velopment Authority voted to approve an expansion of property utilized by Inman Solar to add another megawatt of capacity to the site with more solar panels.
Brion Fitzpatrick, who represented Inman Solar at the July 28 session of the Cedartown Development Authority, said the company only
needs a 4.5-acre addition to the property already being used by the company to generate electricity through sun power.
Fitzpatrick said the total 20-acre site will generate 2 megawatts of electricity to go back into the grid as a whole as part of their original site construction completed in 2014.
The company also – through financial partner and solar panel owner Washington Gas – recently completed a battery storage proj- ect in order to see what one megawatt of solar energy will generate for future use.
“Essentially, this will double the arrangement we already have in place,” Fitzpatrick said during the presentation to the board last week.
The current deal rents out the 15.5-acre parcel already being utilized at $7,500 a month for the first five years and for $17,500 a months for 15 years following. Inman does the installation and handles contracts with cities like Cedartown, and then resells the actual solar panels and subsequent use to companies like Washington Gas, who also acts as a financing partner for Inman Solar.
A megawatt of capacity requires around 3,300 solar panels.
Fitzpatrick told the board – after some minor complaints about a communication problem between the City of Cedartown and Washington Gas on the ownership – that the company would likely resell the new panels to their second party.
“Washington Gas usually purchases what we don’t keep ourselves, mainly because we act as an installer,” Fitzpatrick said.
With further approval from the Cedartown Board of Commissioners, Inman Solar will be able to move forward on the project this fall after a vote during the Aug. 10 regular meeting.
Fitzpatrick said Inman Solar was also working with the Development Authority of Polk County to install more solar panels in the area, especially around Rockmart. He said a program to invest in more renewable energy sources with Georgia Power has thus far been successful over the past two years, and the company seeks to expand their opportunities with installers like Inman.
He said the company looks to place solar sites of at least one megawatt capacity in areas near large users of electricity, but that any power generated ends up back on the grid as a whole.
In order to have a good site, Fitzpatrick said the company needs at least five acres of cleared space accessible to utilities.
Board members expressed interest in finding other sites around the area – for instance, around HON – and said they would work toward providing other options for Inman to develop if the company is interested.