...AND CHEAPER...:

The team at Ray C. Anderson Foundation saw the green spaces that run alongside the highway as the perfect opportunity for their sustainability project. Now, a solar farm with 2,600 panels soak up the sun on a stretch of highway in West Georgia.

The five-acre site is a triangular area of land where an exit ramp meets the road. It used to be a barren, unused space. Now, the team has transformed it to provide enough power for more than 100 homes.

"What it is today is a field of clean, green energy," said Allie Kelly, the Ray's Foundation executive director. Not only does the space harness solar energy, but the panels stand higher than normal ones so wildflowers can also grow.

Alongside the project, the foundation teamed up with mapping company, ESRI, to develop a free digital tool to help transportation departments recognize potential solar projects in their areas. It works by identifying land where solar would work best, allowing planners to make a virtual mock-up of the solar installation so that it doesn't block a view or sit too close to the highway.

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