The service bay rooftop of Westgate Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram (CJDR) overlooking Glenwood Avenue, at Raleigh, North Carolina, will soon sport a 98.7 kW solar PV installation that will help promote the importance of solar power to thousands of airline passengers every week. Planes landing and taking off at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport will provide a good view of the solar array as the project is near the north side of the runway.
The solar installation at the rooftop of Westgate Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram. Credit: Southern Energy Management
Southern Energy Management (SEM), a Morrisville-based company, is roped in to design and complete the installation. The installation is expected to pay back itself in a period of 5 years.
The planned installation will have 420 solar modules manufactured by LG and the installation work is anticipated to be over by October. When the installation of the solar facility is completed and commissioned it will supply over 129 MWh of clean renewable energy to Westgate CJDR every year. The power generated from the facility will be sold to the local utility company, Progress Energy under its SunSense commercial solar PV program. The program is formulated to promote the generation of renewable energy and pays an increased level of price for the clean energy generated over commercial roof installations. Westgate CJDR happens to be the first car dealership company to participate in the SunSense program of the utility.
Progress Energy produces over 200,000 kW of renewable clean energy through various accords in North Carolina to achieve its renewable energy portfolio norms fixed by the state. The renewable energy law passed by the state in 2007 has made it mandatory for the utility companies to produce a percentage of their power supply from renewable energy sources.