State regulators today approved this state's largest solar farm as iPhone maker Apple said it would double the size of the project.

The N.C. Utilities Commission gave the go-ahead for the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology company to start generating operating the 20-megawatt solar farm at its huge data complex in Maiden. The center supports the company’s iCloud online data storage system and its SIRI voice-recognition software.

Apple said today it would expand the project by adding 20 more megawatts on 100 acres on the site in Catawba County for a total of 40 megawatts. The state's biggest solar farms to date have maxed out at 5 megawatts.

Apple's solar modules will maximize solar energy by aligning with the sun's rays throughout the day. The array will track the sun as it moves across the sky by rotating on a north-south axis.

The solar project will be built in phases and is expected to start generating power in October and completed by December.

Apple is also planning a 4.8-megawatt fuel cell facility, the nation's largest, at the site. That request is still pending with the Utilities Commission.

North Carolinians' spending on renewable energy doubled last year and has grown 25-fold just in the past five years, according to state tax data. Whether you approve of green energy or not, that's a remarkable transformation for a state in which solar panels were virtually unknown until recent years.

N.C. Department of Revenue data show that interest in renewable upgrades blasted off after the state legislature passed an energy law in 2007. The law requires electric utilities to buy output from solar panels, wind turbines and other private renewable generators.

The revenue data tracks state tax credits claimed every year on renewable investments. The state's 35 percent tax credit is considered one of the most generous in in the nation. Combined with a 30 percent federal tax credit, it reduces the cost of renewable project by more than half.

In 2011, North Carolina residents and businesses claimed $11.3 million in tax credits for renewable property. Such projects typically include solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, geothermal and wind turbines.

The 2011 credits doubled the previous year's, which came to $5.3 million. The 2010 credits again doubled from the year before, or $2.7 million in 2009.

Apple revealed additional details Monday about its massive data center located in Maiden, North Carolina.

The 500,000 square foot facility, costing a reported $1 billion, hosts data for Apple's iCloud and Siri services. 

Having already obtained LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification, the report from Apple includes plans to go greener by building what it calls "the nation’s largest end user–owned, onsite solar array" and the "largest non-utility fuel cell installation."

Raleigh officials said today the city has begun construction on what will be the biggest urban solar energy plant in downtown Raleigh.

The 500-kilowatt system planned for the rooftop of the Raleigh Convention Center is expected to start generating electricity in April.

The system is financed in an unusual arrangement. Two alternative energy companies, FLS Energy and PowerWorks, will build, own and operate the solar panels. Progress Energy will buy the electricity.

The city is leasing space on the Convention Center roof to house the solar array. It is Raleigh's 10th solar energy plant with a total output capacity of 2.15 megawatts.

However, 500 kilowatts (1/2 megawatt) is not the largest system in the state. Several systems in development are about 5 megawatts and one, in Davidson County, is 15.5 megawatts.

Another major solar farm is in the pipeline for North Carolina, this time a 3 megawatt project in Lilesville, about 60 miles east of Charlotte.

The project was filed this week with the N.C. Utilities Commission by Raleigh-based BGE Carolina Solar. BGE is a subsidiary of Blue Green Energy, based in Charlotte.

The solar farm is planned to be generating electricity no later than July 31 next year. It would generate enough power for the equivalent of about 300 homes.

Not long ago 3 megawatts would have been unprecedented in size in North Carolina, but in recent months several projects have been proposed at 4.5 megawatts and 5 megawatts.

Solar projects are increasing in size as the cost of manufacturing solar panels is falling.

Some of the biggest names in solar and renewable energy are putting on a solar conference in Raleigh next month for manufacturers and developers, another indication of North Carolina's rising reputation as a solar energy hub.

The all-day conference will take place in the McKimmon Center at N.C. State University and feature site tours of local renewable energy labs as well as speakers on smart grids, solar financing and other topics.

The free event will be put on by N.C. Solar Center, N.C. Sustainable Energy Association, S.C. Solar Business Alliance, N.C. Department of Commerce, Georgia Solar Energy Association and Siemens, a global energy conglomerate.

Solar Exchange East will be held September 21st from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
 

Software developer SAS continues expanding its solar energy production at its Cary campus, where the company already has the largest solar complex in the Triangle.

The company this week notified the N.C. Utilities Commission it plans to add another 168.48 kilowatts of solar power on a building rooftop. The $822,000 project is expected to be selling electricity to Progress Energy in August and will bring SAS's solar capacity to 2.45 megawatts.

SAS has two large ground-level solar farms located on campus that are tended by sheep trucked in to graze on the grass. The company also has a rooftop solar array and three solar thermal projects that produce heated water.

The company has been able to build out its solar complex to over 11,000 panels in the past several years thanks to generous state and federal tax credits as well as incentives offered by Progress Energy that together cover more than two-thirds of the price of the projects.

The Raleigh City Council has unanimously signed off on the city's plan to install two solar photovoltaic array systems at the new Wilders Grove Solid Waste Services Operations Center.

Progress Energy is asking green energy developers for another round of solar farm bids to help the Raleigh-based electric utility meet its state mandate for renewable energy.

Progress is seeking solar farms sized at 1 megawatt to 3 megawatts. Currently the biggest solar farm in the Triangle is about 2.2 megawatts, located at the Cary campus of software developer SAS.

To date, Progress has contracted for about 9 megawatts of solar energy from independent developers.

Siemens has acquired a 16 percent stake in Semprius, a Durham startup that is developing next generation solar devices.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Semprius CEO Joe Carr said the investment is part of a larger venture capital round, the full details of which will be announced next week.

The company, which has about 30 employees, has raised more than $10 million in venture capital financing from Durham's Intersouth Partners and others.

Semprius has been working with Siemens Industry on building and deploying demonstration units of its solar cells.

This latest investment is by the renewable energy division of Siemens Energy.

The additional capital will be used to build a plant to manufacture Semprius’ solar cells.