North Carolina Utility to Invest $50 Million in Distributed Solar Program

The utility will lease rooftops from homes and businesses

June 2009

Over the next two years, Duke Energy will install photovoltaic panels on the roofs and grounds of up to 400 homes, businesses, and public buildings in North Carolina. The state's Public Utilities Commission approved the $50 million project in early May.

Electricity generated by what the company is calling the "mini solar plants" will feed directly into the utility's power grid, constituting the first example of distributed generation in the Southeast. Duke Energy will own and maintain the panels and will pay rent to property owners who host the installations.

Implementation of the project is expected to begin in late 2009. When in operation, the photovoltaic systems combined will generate as much as 10 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

The project is approximately half the size of the one initially proposed by Duke Energy to the utility commission in June 2008, which called for more than 800 installations producing an estimated 20 MW of electricity. (See the June 11 article published by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.) Estimated cost of the larger project was $100 million.

North Carolina's Renewable and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards require that 0.02% of the electricity sold in the state come from solar power by 2010; the requirement increases to 0.2% in 2018.

For more information, see the news release issued by Duke Energy on May 7, 2009 or read the media statement (PDF 37 KB) released by the Solar Electric Power Association on May 11, 2009.  Download Adobe Reader.