Published

2 years ago

December 24, 2024

Alice Rush

Jeremy Porter can see beauty in many things: cars, go-carts, motorcycles – even solar panels.

As chief executive of the Atlanta Motorsports Park (AMP) in Dawsonville, Georgia, Porter is turning his speedway into a clean-energy haven, which is promoting renewable energy, recycling, and the transition to electric vehicles.

“Personally, I think solar arrays are beautiful,” he says. “I want to create a facility that is a premier destination for our customers, but also one that is making a difference in the environment.”

The facility recently installed a 402-kilowatt (kW) solar array that will power about 60% of the daily operational electrical needs at the facility – a total of five buildings.

Left: Tracks at the Atlanta Motorsports Park (AMP) in Dawsonville, Georgia (Photo courtesy of Atlanta Motorsports Park). Right: Solar arrays at the AMP. Photos courtesy of Hannah Solar.

“The ability to generate over half of our energy needs through solar pushes us closer to our vision of making AMP’s campus its own self-sustaining community and resort,” he says. “We are thrilled at our ability to reduce strain on the local grid while achieving a substantial positive environmental impact.”

In Dawson County, AMP is already the largest recycler, including used tires and asphalt. AMP also utilizes recycled guardrails from the highway. That commitment to sustainability is appealing to new residents. AMP boasts some 300 condos, which have attracted plenty of current and future buyers.

AMP echoes a nationwide effort by NASCAR, which is aiming to lower the sport’s carbon footprint to zero by 2035.

Federal Funding Slashed Costs

Porter worked with Georgia-based companies Hannah Solar and Amicalola EMC on the solar project and was able to recoup 50% of its total costs thanks to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Energy for America (REAP) grant.

He says AMP hired a grant writer to help them through the process and was “pleasantly surprised” when the facility was awarded a grant.

REAP grants support small businesses and agricultural producers in rural areas, making renewable energy technologies like solar and energy efficiency improvements more accessible and affordable. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, over $2 billion in REAP funding has been allocated through 2031.

Solar Panels Made at Qcells in Georgia

The solar panels at the AMP facility were manufactured at the Qcells’ Dalton, Georgia, factory, which manufactures nearly 30,000 solar panels per day and employs around 500 workers. Qcells is not only a Georgia success story but a national one as well. Qcells has transformed Dalton from once being known as the “carpet capital of the world” to now being the largest producer of American-made solar panels.

“Whenever we can keep it local – we will do that,” says Porter.

The installation can generate 450,300 kWh of solar power annually, which will offset more than 7,000 pounds of CO2 emissions over a 30-year period.

Left to right: Tracks lit up at night at the Atlanta Motorsports Park (AMP) in Dawsonville, Georgia; Jeremy Porter, chief executive of AMP; electric vehicle chargers at AMP.

AMP is serious about sustainable operations in other ways, too. The facility also has all LED lighting and solar-powered CCTV/Signs. The site also recently added electric vehicle (EV) chargers: 10 Level 3 DC Superchargers; and 8 Level 2 chargers.

“We often host film crews shooting footage of cars in action,” he says. “Our Superchargers mean they can be more productive with those cars. Plus, it gives many of our customers easy access to chargers when they visit the facility.”

Porter sees EV racing as another offering AMP may have in the future.

“I always want to be innovating,” he says. “It’s exciting to create something new, but also do right by the environment.”

Get Involved in the Clean Energy Generation

Examples of clean energy innovation are everywhere, whether it’s a solar-powered speedway, an EV charger at your local coffee shop, or a heat pump in your basement. As the Clean Energy Generation, we’re alive amidst unprecedented climate disruption, but also during a historic push for clean energy – and there’s a role for all of us. To learn more about actions you can take, meet others from across the Southeast, and get inspired by more stories like this one, we invite you to say “I’m in!” and join the movement using the buttons below.

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The post Atlanta Motorsports Park Revs Up With Solar Power appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Atlanta Motorsports Park Revs Up With Solar Power

Renewable Energy

Hitting the Tipping Point

Published

8 hours ago

September 8, 2026

Alice Rush

Have we hit the tipping point on climate change? For example, has the melting permafrost in the Arctic released so much methane that a runaway feedback loop has been established?

As suggested at left, an analogous question could be asked about the level corruption in the U.S. government.

Hitting the Tipping Point

Renewable Energy

Nordex Outsells Vestas, GE Vernova Rebuilds Wind Team

Published

16 hours ago

September 8, 2026

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

Nordex Outsells Vestas, GE Vernova Rebuilds Wind Team

Nordex closes in on Vestas in onshore orders, GE Vernova rebuilds its wind team, Nexxis buys BladeBug, and wooden blades draw doubts.

The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast is brought to you by Weather Guard Lightning Tech, creators of the StrikeTape Ultra LPS retrofit. Subscribe to Uptime’s Substack newsletter. And check out Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” Youtube channel. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!

Nordex Outsells Vestas, GE Vernova Rebuilds Wind Team

Renewable Energy

Siemens Gamesa Builds Hornsea Blades, NEMS Invests in Perth

Published

2 days ago

September 7, 2026

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

Siemens Gamesa Builds Hornsea Blades, NEMS Invests in Perth

Siemens Gamesa starts Hornsea 3 blade production in Hull, Germany approves an Offshore Wind Act amendment, and Nexxis buys BladeBUG.

Episode Transcript

Uptime News Flash
September 7, 2026
Happy Monday, everyone. Well, let’s talk about the biggest wind farm on earth. It doesn’t exist yet, but its blades are being built right now. Over in Hull, England, Siemens Gamesa just started making blades for Ørsted’s Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm. That’s two point nine gigawatts, one hundred and ninety-seven turbines. Each blade is longer than a football pitch. Fourteen hundred workers build blades in that factory, turning raw materials into finished product. When complete, Hornsea 3 will power more than three million British homes. It’s the single largest offshore wind farm in the world.
And if we slide over to Germany for a moment, the German cabinet just approved an amendment to the Offshore Wind Act, the WindSeeG. It’s headed to the Bundestag next. The goal? New rules by January first, twenty twenty-seven. But the Offshore Wind Energy Foundation says the draft does not go far enough. Sixteen gigawatts of awarded projects are still waiting on final investment decisions. Sixteen — that’s quite a few. The foundation wants a new way for developers to hand back sites they can’t build, so those sites can be re-tendered quickly under conditions that actually work. Sort of a use-it-or-lose-it approach. That’s the idea.
We’ll head a little further east to India. India ranks fourth in the world for installed wind power, but probably not for long. A government official said this week that India will overtake Germany and become the world’s third-largest wind energy nation by twenty thirty — one hundred seven gigawatts of installed capacity. India added a record six gigawatts last year alone, shattering their previous record of a little over four gigawatts. And twenty-eight more gigawatts are under construction right now. Impressive.
Let’s head down to Western Australia, because a company called National Electric Motor Services, NEMS for short, is building a one million dollar facility in Perth to test and repair wind turbine generators. Right now, Australian wind farm operators ship their broken generators overseas for repairs, and that takes months. NEMS is the only authorized service center for ELIN Motoren in all of Western Australia. This is the fifth project funded through Australia’s Wind Energy Manufacturing Co-investment program. Local repair, faster turnaround, and homegrown capability — that’s all good.
And staying in Australia, Perth-based Nexxis Technology just bought a British robotics company, BladeBUG. BladeBUG is a robot that uses suction cups to crawl across wind turbine blades. Nexxis already has a robot called Magneto that uses electromagnetic adhesion to climb steel structures. If you put the two together, you can inspect almost any surface on a turbine, or about anything else. Add AI and machine vision, and you have robots that can see what human eyes might miss, from places human hands shouldn’t have to reach. It’s safer, faster, and it’s going to be a lot smarter.
One more story before we finish today. Siemens Gamesa has now installed more than 300 recyclable blades in six countries. The secret is a new resin. Unlike conventional resins, this one lets you separate the blade components at end of life, so you can separate the fabric from the resin. Cool stuff. Jonas Pagh Jensen, head of sustainability at Siemens Gamesa, says the technology is ready for full-scale use. And Siemens Gamesa has already installed 36 GreenerTower units — steel towers with 63% lower carbon emissions. So although sustainability may have faded from the headlines, it’s still in tender documents, and it’s showing up more than ever. In Denmark, the Netherlands, and France, buyers are all asking about recyclability and decarbonization before they award contracts.
So what should you be watching this week? Recyclability is no longer a nice-to-have — it’s a must-have, and it’s showing up in tender scoring. If your blades can’t be recycled at end of life, you may not win the contract to begin with. And a lot of supply chains are going local. Australia doesn’t want to ship generators overseas anymore. India is building its own turbine factories. The countries buying wind power want it built at home. For professionals in the wind industry, the competitive edge is shifting — it’s not just who can build the best turbine, it’s who can build it locally, recycle it fully, and inspect it without putting a person in a harness.