Seco Tools adds solar to save

LENOIR CITY, TENNESSEE - An international manufacturer with a longtime production facility here is turning to solar as a way to save on its electric bill.

Swedish-based Seco Tools dedicated a 126-panel, nearly 29.61-kilowatt set of solar arrays that will help offset 60 percent of the company's lighting costs and 0.5 percent of its overall electric demand. Seco's U.S. headquarters is in Troy, Michigan.

The Lenoir City plant makes cutting tools and other machining products that Seco sells to a variety of industries. The company has been in East Tennessee since 1979 and employs 69 people.

The $187,500 project was assisted by a $59,220 grant from the Tennessee Solar Institute and a 30 percent federal tax credit. The project also received $1,000 in incentives from TVA and will participate in the agency's Generation Partners program, which pays a premium for customer-generated power from renewable sources.