CHASAN Adds Solar for Energy Savings

An automation leader is teaming up with business facilities leader CHASAN in East Tennessee for utility bill savings and environmental stewardship.  Solar technology designed by Solar Alliance is benefiting them both. 

Now a 90.8 kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic system is offsetting part of the electrical consumption for an 80,000 square foot commercial property owned by CHASAN in Greeneville, Tennessee.  

“We are excited to become the first commercial property in Greene County with Solar panels,” said CHASAN Vice President of Operations Marlin White. “It has been a long-time goal of mine to incorporate Green power into Greeneville! Since the launch of this solar panel project, we have had several other tenants reach out about potentially adding solar to their buildings.” 

CHASAN leases the warehouse to Sergeant Sudz & Alpha Automation, which engineers and manufactures motor control centers for the car wash and various automation and control industries. CHASAN was able to use savings from a USDA Rural Energy for America Program grant, plus federal tax incentives, to offset a large portion of the cost of the rooftop PV installation.  Now, as utility bills are reduced, CHASAN is able to share that savings with its tenant. 

“We are certainly enthused with benefiting from a great energy-saving resource,” said Vice President Subeth Vanderwiele of Sergeant Sudz & Alpha Automation. “Working in the industry of automation, we certainly appreciate and offer energy efficient solutions to all of our customers.”   

The rooftop array consists of 204 panels that are 445 watts each. 

This system produces around 114,347 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity each year. 

It offsets nearly 80 metric tons of carbon annually. 

This is equivalent to offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from: 

• 185 barrels of oil 

• Or 15.5 homes’ electricity usage for a year 

• Or 3,670 propane cylinders used for home barbecues