North Carolina led the country in the creation of clean energy and clean transportation jobs during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a report from Environmental Entrepreneurs, a nationwide network of business leaders who advocate for policies that benefit both the economy and the environment.
For the entire year, the state was second only to California in clean energy job creation.
Sunlight is a pretty special thing. It wakes us in the morning, heats the earth during the day, helps plants grow, and provides us with some of the most beautiful moments of our lives – sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, etc. More and more, it is also providing us with electricity.
A Mooresville company that is one of the state's leading solar farm developers this week proposed two of the state's biggest solar projects among a half-dozen applications filed with the N.C. Utilities Commission.
SunEnergy1, about 30 miles north of Charlotte, applied for a total of 63 megawatts, all in eastern North Carolina. Individually the projects range in size from 5 megawatts to 20 megawatts, according to the filings.
However, SunEnergy1 is proposing to build 25 megawatts of solar power in two projects at the Rocky Mount Waste Water Treatment Plant, and another 25 megawatts at the Pitt-Greenville Airport in Greenville. Those projects would constitute the state's biggest solar farms.
Capitol Broadcasting Co., owner of WRAL-TV and the Durham Bulls, could soon add a solar energy farm to its portfolio.
The local media company's filing for a Wake County zoning permit states: "The proposed solar development is in the shadow of a 2,000-ft. communication tower" (italics added).
Thus, this may be the world's first solar farm to be deliberately located in a shadow. However, this being a figurative shadow, it is not expected to darken the prospects for solar energy.
Are you using solar power? If you’ve installed a solar device at your house – anything from simple lighting to a large-scale panel – we want to hear from you. Send your name and a daytime number to amberveverka@carolina.rr.com.
Progress Energy is adding another rooftop solar project to its energy arsenal.
The Raleigh utility has signed a contract with Advanced Green Technologies to buy the energy produced by a 1.27 megawatt solar array that AGT is building on the roof of a BSH Home Appliances warehouse in New Bern. AGT will own and operate the rooftop solar facility which will be the largest solar power plant in eastern North Carolina, according to Progress Energy.
The deal is the seventh large-scale solar project announced by Progress Energy and brings the total amount of solar-generated electricity scheduled to be purchased by the company to more than 10 megawatts. It's the third-largest solar array announced so far by Progress throughout the state.
Duke Energy will join with a Chinese company to develop commercial solar power projects in the United States.
Charlotte-based Duke signed the deal today with ENN Group, which operates more than 100 subsidiaries in 80 cities in China and employs more than 24,000 people.
Under the agreement the two will concentrate on large utility-scale farms and commercial distributed generation solar projects.
"China is investing heavily in clean energy and we can make greater progress in the U.S. by joining forces and working together," Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers said in a statement.
The agreement will expand Duke's existing investments in renewable energy, including wind and biopower. Duke owns and operates more than 630 megawatts of wind power projects in the United States and plans to add another 350 megawatts by the end of next year.
A solar energy farm in Person County, which officially opened today near Roxboro, will be one of the state's most publicly visible renewable energy facilities.
Progress Energy is buying the electricity generated by the 5-acre facility, enough to power about 60 homes, as part of a 20-year contract. The solar power plant began generating electricity eight days ago.
The 650-kilowatt facility, operated by Carolina Solar Energy of Durham, is not the state's largest. Progress Energy has signed a contract for a facility in Laurinburg that will be nearly four times bigger.
But the complex of angled photovoltaic panels at the Person County Business and Industrial Center is visible to passersby on Route 501. And this week, Carolina Solar Energy will launch a public web site that will provide real-time readouts showing how much energy the solar farm is generating, how much power it has generated to date, and how much carbon dioxide it's reducing by offsetting power from Progress Energy's coal-burning power plants.
