Solar Farm Will Shine Near Athens

It was a family farm that was planted to cotton in the 1930s. Soon, it's going to have acres seeded with 150,000 solar cells, representing an investment of $85 to $90 million, says developer and landowner Steve Ivey.

A story in the Walton Tribune said the Walton County Commission approved plans in early December for the facility, called Simon Solar Farm, which is the county's second solar farm. It's near Social Circle.

“I have picked up where my grandfather left off and am farming again on our family land,” Ivey told the newspaper. He owns IMI, a Music Row production and publishing house in Nashville. “It is the exact same concept — using the sun to make a crop. His crop was cotton and my crop is clean energy.”

According to the Tennessan newspaper, the solar firm of former Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen, Silicon Ranch Corporation, will construct the 175-acre farm. 

It is expected to produce 30 megawatts of electricity to be sold to Georgia Power Co., Ivey told the newspaper. The Georgia Public Service Commission must approve the plan.