BRIDGES

TVA's solar power array in Memphis is located on the roof of the new BRIDGES facility in the Uptown redevelopment area, north of downtown. BRIDGES, a nonprofit youth leadership training organization, empowers young people in the Memphis area through a variety of training programs. The state-of-the-art facility replaces several smaller sites throughout the city and was designed with a focus on kids, education and environmental awareness. Inside the facility is a 40-foot climbing wall and a team-building ropes course as well as classrooms, workshops, and office areas. The environmentally friendly design also includes solar water heating, in-duct Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) components, daylighting, natural ventilation and a variety of recycled building materials.

The array has 176 PV modules and can produce about 46,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year or more than 300 blocks of electricity for Green Power Switch customers. The energy generated at the site goes into the distribution network of the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division (MLGW), then to the TVA power grid. MLGW, the local distributor, will offer Green Power Switch to customers in Spring 2005.

The graph below represents the amount of electrical power generated at the BRIDGES site on July 4, 2008. To view or download the raw data used to create this graph, click here.