Sep 3 2010
Recently, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was conducted for the Maple View Farm to mark its opening. The Chapel Hill-Carborro Chamber of Commerce had sponsored the ceremony. The solar farm, comprising 780 panels and located in Hillsborough, was constructed by Duke Energy as part of its Solar Distributed Generation Project.
The location for the Maple View Farm was chosen due to its first-rate solar potential. This $50 million project is likely to generate 10 MW of energy sufficient to power around 1,300 homes. This facility is one among 13 commercial solar fields in North Carolina in the project portfolio of Duke Energy.
In 2009, this solar farm introduced an education center comprising four classrooms with science themes such as animal habitats, weather and insects. This center helped realize the benefits of sustainable energy. Steve Troxler, the Agricultural Commissioner of North Carolina, commented that agriculture is the number one industry in the state, contributing $74 billion in 2009.
Source: http://www.duke-energy.com/company.asp