CHRISTIANA, TN - In the southern portion of Rutherford County, a solar farm has been nominated for Solar Builder’s 2025 Project of the Year. The project is in the category for solar farms capable of producing 1 to 10 megawatts of power. For context, 1 megawatt equals one million watts—enough electricity to power approximately 600 average-sized U.S. homes for one hour. At the higher end, 10 megawatts equals 10,000,000 watts—enough to power about 6,000 average-sized homes for one hour (yes, you read that correctly, 10-million watts).

Amy Byers with Middle Tennessee Electric told WGNS News... MTE is participating in the project. She added that although TVA is the power provider for the cooperative, MTE continues exploring new ways to reduce the cost of power...

According to Silicon Ranch Corporation, “This project is the first-ever U.S. solar power plant that will sell energy wholesale while also providing a home for a resident herd of grazing cattle. At Silicon Ranch’s Christiana Solar Farm, cattle ranchers, inventors, researchers, and stakeholders from across the energy, agriculture, and academia sectors are working together to take on a new frontier in American energy and American agriculture.”

Cattle will be introduced to the Christiana Solar Farm in 2026. Farmers suggested the idea after Silicon Ranch previously pioneered integrating sheep into solar field projects. Over the next few months, the herd will be added and then managed through the company’s double-patented “CattleTracker” rotational grazing system. Cattle living on the farmland will be part of a living laboratory where researchers from Colorado State University can study cattle behavior, animal welfare, and overall ecological impacts.

Middle Tennessee Electric helps meet the energy needs of more than 750,000 Tennesseans, making the electric cooperative the largest in the TVA region and the second-largest in the nation.

Last year, the Adventure Science Center in Nashville won an award in the category of projects producing 100 kW or less, reducing the museum’s utility bills by nearly $11,000 annually. You can learn more about Solar Builder’s 2024 Project of the Year through the online publication HERE. You can also learn about this year’s 2025 contest HERE.

In Rutherford County, TN, Silicon Ranch writes, “Christiana is more than a solar farm—it’s a model for a farm-friendly energy future that honors tradition while driving innovation in American energy and American agriculture.”

In closing, WGNS asked Byers, the public relations coordinator for MTE’s headquarters office in Murfreesboro, about powering the future... WGNS talks to Byers live on the radio every Tuesday morning at 7:50 a.m. Tune in to our online stream at WGNSradio.com, or listen on FM 100.5, FM 101.9, and AM 1450. WGNS has powered the airwaves with local news—empowering residents with knowledge of what’s happening in the Rutherford County area—since 1947.

Below Photo: Solar farm, after Silicon Ranch previously pioneered the integration of sheep