Aug. 10—TUPELO — If Tupelo Regional Airport executive director Joe Wheeler is looking to power the terminal at the airport with solar energy, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, could provide the funding for the project.
"I'm looking at discretionary dollars and green energy dollars to get some solar panels," Wheeler told the airport board Tuesday at its regularly scheduled meeting.
With one estimate in hand, Wheeler said the solar panels will cost about $500,000.
"We're going to break it up into phases," he said. "As long as we can get the money, we'll do it that way."
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a $1 trillion package that includes $25 billion in new airport spending over the next five years. It passed through the Senate on a bipartisan 69-30 vote.
The National Air Transportation Association applauded the bill's passage and said the act includes a $2.5 billion investment in general aviation airports and $100 million investment in the contract tower program.
"General aviation airports and the countless businesses associated with them create valuable economic development and well-paying jobs in communities across the nation, while connecting those communities to vital transportation services and crucial disaster relief, medical care, and other emergency services," said NATA president and CEO Timothy Obitts. "These much-needed funds will help maintain and modernize the infrastructure necessary to continue those essential services."
The solar panels would be placed in the grassy area between the administration building and the terminal and will be fenced.
Wheeler said the solar panels would be funded entierly through grants, with no money coming from the Federal Aviation Administration.
"The price of solar has come down to the point that it's almost feasible, but not quite at the point where you can do it without grants," he told the board.
Previous attempts to install solar panels at the airport using multi-modal project money from the Mississippi Department of Transportation were deemed too large and fell through. With several "green energy" grants available, Tupelo Regional will apply for them and other grants that could help pay for the solar panels.
The use of solar energy at airports is not a new idea.
Cochin International Airport in the Indian state of Kerala has been using 100% solar energy generated electricity since 2015.
Closer to home, Chattanooga Airport began a multi-phased solar project in 2011 with the addition of a 1 megawatt solar array comprising nearly 4,000 panels. Each panel had the capacity of generating 225 watts power.
In 2013, the second phase started when another 1.1 MW solar farm was built with another 3,542 panels generating 310 watts power. The third phase started in 2017 when 641-kilowatt solar farm was built, with another 1,886 solar panels. Each panel has the capacity of generating 340 Watts power.
By 2019, Chattanooga's solar panel field comprised a nearly 30-acre row of photovoltaic panels, which generated 2.64 megawatts of electricity to meet the airport's overall energy needs.
Wheeler said the Tupelo project will begin "when we can get the money."
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