Convention Center to go solar
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - The Knoxville Convention Center is going green.
The downtown facility will be installing the first of two solar panel systems on its roof to generate renewable energy for the area. An inverter power pack and chiller for the 30 kilowatt solar panel system will be lowered by helicopter onto the roof.
Convention Center spokesman Jason Bourgoyne said the solar power system will be tied into the TVA-KUB power network and also will meet part of the Convention Center's electricity needs.
The building, which cost $93 million to construct, houses a 30,000-square-foot ballroom that can seat 1,900 people, 120,000 square feet of exhibit space, 13 meeting rooms and a 460-seat lecture hall. It opened in 2002.
Related News

Groups clash over NH hydropower project
BANGOR, MAINE - Groups supporting and opposing the Northern Pass hydropower project in New Hampshire filed statements Friday in advance of a state committee’s meeting next week on whether it should rehear the project.
The Site Evaluation Committee rejected Eversource’s project last month over concerns about potential negative impacts. It is scheduled to deliberate Monday on Eversource’s request for a rehearing.
The $1.6 billion project would deliver hydropower from Canada to customers in southern New England through a 192-mile transmission line in New Hampshire.
If the Northern Pass project fails to ultimately win New Hampshire approval, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources has…