In the City of Demorests’s executive session Tuesday night, the council heard a proposal to enter into a licensing agreement with Councilman John Hendrix, who has patented solar energy technology that he wants to share with the city.
In a 3-0 vote, with Hendrix recusing himself, the council unanimously approved the agreement.
“Dr. Hendrx and Mei Hendrix [have] a patent on a solar product that generates electricity, that product is similar to solar panels but a little bit different,” said Demorest Mayor Jerry Harkness. “What we’re doing is [we] approved to allow the city to enter into a licensing agreement with the Hendrixes to utilize that patent that they’re so graciously allowing us to utilize.”
The city plans to consult with engineers to see how viable the project would be for the city, and apply for federal and state grants that would help them look further into funding options for bringing the power source to the city.
“Our next step is working with engineers on the project,” Harkness said. “Then they will give us a quick timeline on what we will be looking at to get something ready to apply for grants.”
Harkness says that in time, the city could start to generate enough solar power to sell as an energy source to the city’s power grid, power municipality buildings, and perhaps, in the future, look into a partnership with Piedmont University.
“We’d love some kind of partnership with the college, especially with them being right here with us, that we could share some of that with them,” Harkness said. With a lawsuit up in the air between the city and university, though, that day might not be as soon as the city might like it to be.
“I look forward to the day that we move past that and work on our relationship with Piedmont University,” Harkness said.
