Duke Distributed Generation Solar Sites Revealed

Oct 14, 2009 - Renewable Energy World.com

Four sites have been selected to have solar energy systems installed on their rooftops as part of the first phase of Duke Energy's distributed solar generation program in North Carolina. Duke Energy has selected large nonresidential customer sites for this first phase.

The first, at the National Gypsum Company in Mount Holly, will house a 1.2-megawatt (MW) system that includes 5,096 rooftop solar panels. The second at Highwood Properties in Greensboro, will be a 1.6-MW system that includes 7,020 rooftop solar panels. The third, at a Food Lion, in Salisbury, will be a 1.3-MW system that includes 5,616 rooftop solar panels and the final system at the Childress Klein Properties in Charlotte, will be a 532-kilowatt (kW) system that includes 2,314 rooftop solar panels.

These sites were selected based on their ready access to the electrical grid and solar productivity potential, in addition to other essential lease agreement criteria. Installations will begin immediately, with all phase one systems being installed by the end of the first quarter of 2010, Duke said.

The North Carolina Solar Photovoltaic Distributed Generation program, approved by the NC Utilities Commission earlier this year, enables Duke Energy to install solar panels on the roofs and properties of manufacturing facilities, commercial buildings and homes in the company's North Carolina service territory.

Duke Energy will invest approximately US $50 million to construct and own a total of 10 MW of solar energy capacity in the state. North Carolina's renewable energy standard requires each public electric utility to meet at least 12.5 percent of its North Carolina retail customers' electricity needs through new renewable energy sources or energy efficiency measures by 2021.