Projects Overview
Our Union Springs site allows us to repurpose a space full of foliage and other natural resources that can promote a more energy-efficient economy locally, educate people who pass through from surrounding areas, and serve as a model for similar communities throughout the region.
Little USA Community
Solar Campus
The Little USA campus will be a community center located in the heart of Union Springs. It will be home to the solar career learning center, new business incubator, EV charging stations and parking lot, three story green house, and home to a new local food source grown under the solar panels.
Through career education programs, students will become fully trained, certified, & credentialed to be able to take their solar industry careers to the next level. NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Professionals) courses will bring to the region, green energy career training that already exists in much of the United States. Through partnerships with other non-profits and the staff at LUSA, we will be able to begin courses while the rest of the campus is being developed.
Job Certification & Re-Training
The components of LUSA’s training program will provide opportunities for a variety of career paths including, Electrician, Solar Technician, Installer, Designer, and Green Energy Educator and Trainer. Doors will also be open to higher education and research.
On-campus EV Charging Stations will be the first examples of what students are able to bring to life to serve the local community and commuters on the adjacent highway.
Education
With our existing connections in the Union Springs education community, we’re developing sustainability clubs and curriculum projects across grade levels to generate interest and passion for solar and renewable energy at all ages.
Agrivoltaic Farming
The idea of combining solar installations with traditional farming has emerged as the relatively new field of Agrivoltaics. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the heavily agricultural black belt region of the United States. Part of Little USA’s mission is to make the most out of the property by demonstrating use of space beneath the solar canopy to produce sustainable, organically grown fruits and vegetables that will be sold at local markets. This revolutionary way of farming is already being practiced in other places in the US as well as around the world. With the help of Auburn University, Tuskegee, Virginia Tech, and other educational institution, we aim to make it the most efficient and productive farming system possible.
EV Charging Station, BBQ, and more…
With the remaining acreage, we plan to erect on-site EV Charging Stations, BBQ stand, and park. While people are passing through Union Springs and charging electric vehicles, they can enjoy our family recipe “Soul Brother’s BBQ” hot links under a canopy made from trees taken down from clearing the site ensuring a useful repurpose of foliage currently on the property as we work to revitalize our local community.