Mike Jolley, vice president and head of special projects at Dalton Utilities, and William Silva, president of United Renewable Energy, stand among the recently installed solar panels in southern Whitfield County.
Staff Photo by Mariann Martin/Chattanooga Times Free PressDALTON, Ga. – In less than two months, a grassy field in southern Whitfield County has been transformed into a solar farm, with rows and rows of solar panels soaking up the bright spring sunshine.
Nearby, a digital monitor tracks each kilowatt of renewable energy created and used in homes all across Dalton.
“The project went extremely smoothly,” said Mike Jolley, vice president and special projects manager with Dalton Utilities. “It is putting out more energy than we had anticipated.”
Georgia Power Co. financed and owns the five-acre solar farm, United Renewable Energy built the system and Dalton Utilities will purchase and distribute the solar power.
In nearly two weeks of operation, the farm has been producing about 95 percent capacity – about 10 percent more than officials had hoped for, Jolley said. So far, the kilowatts produced could supply two homes with power for a year, he said.