ATLANTA — Georgia Power and the University of Georgia got the green light Tuesday to establish a 10-acre solar farm on university land as a way to demonstrate technology used in tracking sunbeams throughout the day.
The Board of Regents granted approval for the 1-megawatt facility at the expense of the utility. Utility regulators already OK’d the plan.
It’s large enough to supply the needs of 164 average homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Georgia Power will operate it and distribute the energy from it in its electricity grid, but it will be a teaching tool for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering while also providing opportunities for research by the school and the company.
Unlike most solar panels which remain stationary, tracking equipment to be tested at the university’s solar farm will rotate to maintain the best angle of sunshine throughout the day.
Along with the deal is a “light easement” in which the university agrees not to build anything that will cast a shadow on the solar panels.
Skidaway visitors center named for researcher-donor
ATLANTA — The new visitors center at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography will carry the name of a former researcher who was also a major donor and fundraiser.
Tuesday, the Board of Regents approved naming the 5,000-square-foot facility for James W. Andrews, a nutrition expert who experimented at the institute until 1980 when he founded Savannah Laboratories and Environmental Services Inc. After selling his company in 2001, he volunteered with the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens in several capacities.
Andrews helped raise $4 million to build the visitors center and its formal gardens, including $1.25 million that he and his wife donated.
