Apr 24 2010
North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1) along with its 19 member institutions will soon commence offering businesses and homes in Shelby, North Carolina, with renewable solar power generated by a photovoltaic project that was purchased by a commercial business unit of Duke Energy.
As per the terms of the agreement for power purchase that NCMPA1 has with the commercial business unit of Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS) for a period of 20 years, NCMPA1 will purchase the total output from the Shelby Solar Project having 1 MW capacity for supplying to Shelby city. This 1 MW output is sufficient enough to power around 140 homes annually. The project is likely to be energized and completed by May 2010.
NCMPA1 will obtain all of the renewable energy credits (RECs) generated from the project. The RECs will help the agency to comply with the N.C. Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard, which requires the agency to produce 0.2% of its energy by means of solar energy by the year 2018.
After having received approval for leasing an area of 10 acres from the Shelby City Council, the project will be located close to the Shelby-Cleveland County Regional Airport.
The project was acquired by DEGS from SunPower Corp., a producer of efficient solar panels, solar cells and solar systems. The project will utilize the SunPower Tracker technology and comprise 4,500 crystalline silicon panels that are ground-mounted. The tracker, by using a global positioning satellite system for tracking the movement of the sun helps sunlight tapping by around 25% in comparison with traditional fixed-tilt systems.