North Carolina wrapped up another productive year for solar energy in 2015, as Duke Energy companies set a new record for the amount of PV energy installed in the state at 300MW — enough to power around 60,000 homes.
In its regulated service area, Duke Energy committed US$500 million for a major expansion of solar energy in North Carolina. In 2015, the company developed and now owns four utility-scale PV projects totaling 141MW and also bought 150MW of solar power from other companies.
The 141MW developed stands as 25% of the total solar capacity in 2015 in Duke Energy’s North Carolina service area.
Duke Energy’s company-owned sites are located in Bladen, Duplin, Wilson and Onslow counties. At the Onslow County installation, the 13MW Camp Lejeune Solar Facility stands as Duke Energy’s first PV project located at a military base.
Rob Caldwell, senior vice president, Distributed Energy Resources, said: “Solar is helping to modernize our generation mix and better serve our customers' needs. We plan to continue the momentum; we've already announced we will build an additional 75 megawatts in 2016.”