The City of Atlanta is celebrating new solar panels for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport’s fire station, the first of over a dozen fire stations in the city receiving solar panels, according to Mayor Andre Dickens.
At a ceremony celebrating renewable energy at Fire Station 40 on Jan. 8, Dickens said this is just one part of how the city is transitioning all its municipal operations to renewable energy by 2035.
“Expanding our solar Atlanta program to include the airport is key, again, to advancing our 100% clean energy goal and our carbon emissions reduction goals as well,” the mayor said.
The solar panels were sourced from Dalton, Georgia-based QCells, the largest solar manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere.
Cherry Street Energy, a local solar business, coordinated with the City of Atlanta and installers to connect the station with renewable energy.
The company’s CEO, Michael Chanin, said this is a long-term partnership with the City — their contract is for 20 years, and Cherry Street owns, operates and maintains the technology.
“It is predictable, it is reliable, it is affordable and it’s creating careers in our communities, effectuating change for those that we serve,” said Chanin, whose company also works in workforce development and training.
“These aren’t gigs — these are careers in renewable energy.”
He said that part of their business model includes training local business owners to conduct solar work like installation.
Channin works with Do Everything Wonderfully, or DEW, a local business owned by Abioduni Martin, which did all the installation work for the solar panels at Fire Station 40.
Martin said the airport installation has been an opportunity not only to grow his company but also the green energy workforce here in Atlanta.
“When we’re working on these particular projects we’re working with people who are green, they’re fresh to the industry, they know nothing about solar,” the entrepreneur said.
He says that, along with his more advanced workers, they’re able to get projects done on time while taking these new recruits step by step through the job technical processes.
A veteran of the installation business for a decade, mostly focusing on signage and billboards, Martin said that partnering with Cherry Street Energy has helped him make the transition into having solar as another offering in his business and growing his portfolio to include big projects like the airport fire stations.
“It’s a lot of steps you have to take, a lot of red tape you have to cross — luckily for me,” Martin said. “I have my partners Cherry Street Energy who do all the background stuff.”
