About forty miles south of Dallas, sits a new large solar farm, built with the assistance of veterans. L3Harris Technologies and Lightsource BP came together under a contract to finance the project, spanning a total of 1,350 acres.
The construction officially started in January and commercial operation of the farm officially began in November.
A study by BusinessWire showed the true force of the contract stating that the farm is capable of “eliminating about 110,000 metric tons of CO2 per year or removing 24,000 cars from the road every year.”
The Dallas solar farm comes as an initiative set in motion by L3Harris, who hopes to reduce their carbon emissions by 30% in the coming years. Lightsource BP was in charge of the construction and operation of the farm, while L3Harris financed the project by agreeing to buy renewable energy certificates.
The 360,000 solar panels in the farm were constructed by 250 workers, fifty of which were veterans brought on by an apprenticeship. The apprenticeships were provided by McCarthy Building Companies and ACS.
“Solar is providing excellent opportunities for underemployed or unemployed veterans and workers to embark on new rewarding careers,” says the Vice President of McCarthy’s, Scott Canada. “We had great success with the program at Elm Branch and are implementing this on other projects around the country.”
ACS, or the Adaptive Construction Services, is veteran-owned and operated. Its mission is to provide veterans with free resources to find meaningful jobs.
“The apprenticeships at Elm Branch provided veterans with an opportunity to gain skills needed to confidently work and contribute to a team, along with industry-recognized credentials that can translate into lasting careers,” ACS President Nicolas Morgan told reporters.
The facility, named Elm Branch, is reported to be able to produce 135 megawatts of electricity per year. For scale, one megawatt of traditional coal-fueled electricity can power up to 900 homes for a year. The new solar farm hopes to provide a clean and environmentally-friendly alternative to other power sources.