A new photovoltaic solar farm has recently begun producing electricity near Lexington, North Carolina. The Davidson County Solar Farm is a project that has been developed by SunEdison and Golden Crescent Investment Group and they have entered a 20 year agreement with Duke Energy who will buy the electricity from the farm. The solar energy has been online since the end of December 2009.
The solar farm currently has the capacity to produce 4MW of power. Eventually the solar development is going to be expanded so that the capacity will rise to 16MW. When it is completely brought into service it will be able to produce enough electricity to power 10,000 homes each year, offsetting over 225 million pounds of carbon dioxide.
The site on which the solar farm is located is 356 acres and it currently comprises 16,000 solar panels. When the project is completed that number will rise to 64,000 solar panels that rotate to track the movement of the sun across the sky. The photovoltaic panels absorb the sunlight and convert it to direct-current electricity before it is then converted to alternating-current electricity.
This solar energy development is part of the state law on renewable energy that was passed in 2007 that requires public utilities to source 12.5 per cent of their power from renewable energy by 2021.
“This first phase represents a major milestone in our overall plan to develop 16 megawatts of solar energy at this site,” said SunEdison President Carlos Domenech in a press release. “Having financed and completed this initial installation, we have mobilized resources for the next phase of the solar farm.”