FOLEY – AMEA (Alabama Municipal Electric Authority), City of Foley, and Riviera Utilities partnered to create a solar panel array in Foley, located alongside Highway 59, north of Highway 98. A dedication ceremony was held on Monday, Sept. 24 in front of the new educational array. AMEA is the wholesale supplier of electric energy for Riviera, which is AMEA’s largest member.

“AMEA is in the business of providing energy of all types,” said AMEA President & CEO Fred Clark. “Twenty percent of our resources are nuclear power, 40 percent coal, 25 percent natural gas, ten percent hydropower, and now we’re studying renewable energy and hoping to add that to our mix.”

Foley provided the property to place the solar research project, while Riviera spearheaded the building of the array. Since AMEA is interconnected to Riviera’s distribution system, every Riviera customer in the area will receive a small bit of solar energy as it’s studied. AMEA plans to place similar arrays in all 11 member cities: Alexander City, Dothan, Fairhope, Foley, LaFayette, Lanett, Luverne, Opelika, Piedmont, Sylacauga, and Tuskegee. The Foley array is the sixth project to go up.

“We’re very proud to have this facility available to educate and make people more aware of what can be done with alternative energy,” said Foley Mayor John Koniar. “We’re very happy to dedicate this, and looking forward to the educational aspect of it.”

The Foley array is a 50-KW facility with 160 panels, and would generally provide energy to approximately five homes. The solar array, though small, has been designed as an educational facility. The city hopes to draw students and adults alike to view the array and learn more about the benefits of going solar.

“We’ve got great plans for the rest of this site,” said Riviera Utilities President & CEO Tom DeBell. “We’re going to help demonstrate low-impact development standards, and we’ll be able to make available online streams of what the facility is outputting.”

Riviera plans to construct a kiosk outside of the array detailing what is being monitored and how the data is collected, as well as creating a website where citizens can check and see the data gathered from the solar panels. Future plans include battery-charging stations around the solar array.

For more information, keep watch on Riviera’s website at www.rivierautilities.com.