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Construction on Davidson County solar farm is now complete. Duke Energy Corp. and Sun Edison LLC said today that a joint venture on a Davidson County solar farm has been completed. The Davidson County Solar Farm will be one of the largest photovoltaic solar farms in the United States when completed in 2011. The 21.5-megawatt power station is located in the heart of North Carolina, near the community of Linwood. Sun Edison will build the array of photovoltaic panels, and Duke Energy plans to buy all the output from the solar farm. The solar farm is to be located on North Carolina Highway 47, off New Jersey Church Road.
The companies said that the 17.2 megawatt facility in Linwood – covering more than 200 acres – finished its fifth and final phase in late December. SunEdison is the largest solar-energy company in North America. The solar farm contains more than 63,000 photovoltaic solar panels. It is expected to generate an estimated 28 million kilowatt-hours annually – enough energy to power more than 2,600 homes a year. Some of the energy produced by the solar farm would be lost during the transfer process.
One of the driving forces behind the construction of this solar farm, and SunEdison's presence in North Carolina altogether, is due to a state law passed in 2007 that requires public utilities such as Duke Energy to obtain a minimum of 12.5% of their power from renewable energy by 2021.The farm has a rating of 21.5 megawatts, which translates to 18 megawatts of peak AC power.Every year that the solar farm is in use, it will offset 32 million pounds of carbon dioxide. SunEdison claims that once complete, the power plant will generate enough energy to power more than 2,600 homes.
In August 2009, the Davidson County Economic Development Commission said that SunEdison planned to spend $137 million on constructing the solar farm at the Golden Crescent Farms site off New Jersey Church Road near N.C. 47. At that time, the commission said that there would be 80 construction jobs associated with the farm, then three full-time employees once the plant is operational. Sun Edison is responsible for the operations and maintenance.
Duke Energy has signed agreements with Sun Edison to buy the entire output of the solar farm for 20 years. According to state law, public utilities must have the equivalent of 3 percent of their retail sales come from renewable energy and energy efficiency by 2012. That jumps to 6 percent in 2015, 10 percent in 2017 and 12.5 percent in 2021.
