RSI's Brightfield One Solar Project

Brightfield One, 200 kW solar photovoltaic array, is the first phase of RSI’s Brownfields to Brightfields initiative. The initiative has been a natural expansion of our extensive experience characterizing, permitting, and restoring "Brownfield" sites (government or industrial sites with restricted future use). We have leveraged this experience along with our proven project management capabilities and our firm's success as an environmental services company to facilitate reuse of brownfield sites for solar power generation. The design for Brightfield One was developed by the RSI team as an outgrowth of our technical guide created specifically for the installation of solar farms on restricted-use sites. The guide was produced through a grant awarded to RSI by the Tennessee Solar Institute and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Brightfield One is located on a one-acre tract at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) that RSI purchased from the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee (CROET). ETTP is the site of a former U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Gaseous Diffusion Plant that is undergoing revitalization efforts. RSI self-financed the project, used solar panels manufactured in Tennessee, and partnered with other local small businesses for the installation.

Power generated from Brightfield One is being sold to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) through the City of Oak Ridge Electric Department using a Generation PartnersSM contract.

  • The 200 kW array can produce enough energy to power 22 homes per year - equivalent to 422,745 pounds of carbon dioxide or the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 34.6 passenger vehicles
  • 828 SHARP® 240 watt modules feed two Advanced Energy® PVP 100 kW inverters that turn direct current into the alternating current used in homes - total system capacity is 198.72 kW
  • TerraFix racking systems are used to ground mount the array structures with a series of 5-foot long "earth screws"
  • SPX® ArgusOn web-based, real-time monitoring provides detailed performance and evaluation capabilities

The next phase of RSI's Brownfields to Brightfields initiative is the development of utility-scale solar farms on restricted-use property. RSI’s solar team is developing several potential projects for this next step as we continue to scale up our renewable energy portfolio. We are promoting our vision of supporting the national clean energy goals through the natural and thoughtful use of these sites.

Brightfield One Project Timeline

UCOR Technical Services Contract

As an integrated teaming subcontractor to URS/CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, RSI provides full service project control support and comprehensive characterization for the Department of Energy’s cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park. As URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC undertakes some technical changes in the method of accomplishment to demolish former gaseous diffusion plant facilities, RSI’s professional staff is supporting scope definition, assumption verification, and detailed cost estimating and scheduling. In addition, RSI’s new approach to integrated characterization has eliminated redundant functions, resulting in significant efficiencies and cost savings for our customers.

PPPO Environmental Technical Services (ETS) Project

RSI is a U.S. Department of Energy prime contractor which supports the environmental remediation and decontamination and decommission (D&D) project at the former Portsmouth GDP Site. RSI manages all phases of the D&D project, including transition from facility operation to decommissioning, D&D planning and field work, and site closeout. RSI provides a range of business and program-wide support to the DOE at the Portsmouth Site Office in support of the $2.1B Portsmouth Site D&D project and at the Paducah GDP in support of Strategic Planning and Stakeholder Outreach.

TVA Kingston Recovery Project

As a subcontractor to Jacobs Engineering , RSI provided environmental management and characterization support following the dredge cell failure at the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant.  RSI led the preparation of TVA's corrective action plan for submittal to the State of Tennessee and under emergency response-type conditions provided field characterization personnel, including data management and transportation support specialists who developed from the ground up EPA Region 4‑compliant plans and procedures. RSI  maintained a telemetric network of remotely operated water quality instruments, instituted field documentation and sample chain‑of‑custody protocols across the project to ensure all field data collected met EPA Region 4 quality and defensibility requirements.  In addition, RSI personnel were a part of the development team that used a multi-pronged stakeholder interface approach to assist TVA in communicating all aspects of the project to the general public.

Renewable Energy Development at ETTP

In cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, RSI has broken ground on a 200 kilowatt solar farm at the East Tennessee Technology Park. The solar array, named Brightfield One, is part of RSI's Brownfield to Brightfield initiative.  The design is an outgrowth of a technical report "Solar Installations on Restricted Use Sites" that RSI completed through a grant from the Tennessee Solar Institute (TSI).  Power generated from the site will be sold to TVA through the City of Oak Ridge Electric Department. The project will mark a first for RSI as they continue to expand their growing Renewable Energy Division.