Dr. Jeremy Carr, who teaches chemistry and physical science at Central Alabama Community College, shows his son Jayden, 4, and daughter June, 7, the solar panels in Alexander City. Carr said his son in particular is fascinated by the panels.
Alexander City Mayor Jim Nabors, center, cuts the ribbon on the AMEA solar panel research facility on Dadeville Road Thursday morning. The panels produce 50 kilowatts daily, enough to power five to seven average-sized homes.
Dr. Jeremy Carr, who teaches chemistry and physical science at Central Alabama Community College, shows his son Jayden, 4, and daughter June, 7, the solar panels in Alexander City. Carr said his son in particular is fascinated by the panels.
Kenneth S. Boone
Jimmy Wigfield / The Outlook
An array of solar panels is seen at the AMEA’s research facility in Alexander City. In all, 160 panels produce 50 kilowatts of electricity daily.
Kenneth S. Boone
Jimmy Wigfield / The Outlook
Alexander City Mayor Jim Nabors, center, cuts the ribbon on the AMEA solar panel research facility on Dadeville Road Thursday morning. The panels produce 50 kilowatts daily, enough to power five to seven average-sized homes.
With the dedication of its solar panel research facility in Alexander City Thursday, the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority signaled it believes energy derived from sunlight will be a significant part of its future power portfolio.
“In the next three to five years, I think we could draw as much as 7 percent of our energy from solar,” AMEA president and CEO Fred Clark said. “The panels are coming down in cost to get to the scale to be economical. When we get to that scale, we’ll reduce the amount of energy we buy from coal and natural gas sources. And solar energy has a fixed price. We want diversity in our energy sources and we believe it will get more economical as we go down the road. In another 10 to 20 years, energy costs will likely go down due to technology like this.”
