Duke Energy Florida installs 1 millionth solar panel

Duke Energy Florida plans to install a significant amount of additional solar energy over the next 10 years across the state.

Duke Energy Florida will have a total of almost 515 MW of solar under construction or operating by mid-2020.

The company is investing an estimated US$1 billion to construct or acquire a total of 700 MW of solar power facilities from 2018 through 2022 in Florida.

Duke Energy Florida is projecting to more than double its solar investments, and plans to potentially install more than 1500 MW of solar generation by 2028.

The 1 millionth panel was installed at the 74.9MW Columbia Solar Power Plant, which includes approximately 300 000 solar panels and is anticipated to begin servicing customers in March 2020.

Here is a look at the solar power plants across Florida that helped Duke Energy reach its 1 millionth solar panel installation:

• In 2016, Duke Energy completed a 5 MW solar power plant that serves the Reedy Creek Improvement District and its customers, like the Walt Disney World Resort. It is a 22-acre solar farm in the shape of a not-so-hidden Mickey in Orlando, Orange County, with 48 000 solar panels.
• Also in 2016, Duke Energy Florida opened two universal solar power plants. A 3.8 MW facility in Kenansville, Osceola County, US, with 15 000 solar panels and a 5.1 MW facility in Perry, Taylor County, US with 22 000 solar panels.
• In 2017, Duke Energy Florida opened a solar power plant in Suwannee County with 8.8 MW and 44 000 panels in Live Oak, Suwannee County, US.
• The 74.9 MW Hamilton Solar Power Plant has 300 000 solar panels and came online in December 2018. It is located in Jasper, Hamilton County, US.
• The 45 MW Lake Placid Solar Power Plant in Highlands County began serving customers on 9 December 2019, with 180 000 solar panels.
• The Trenton Solar Power Plant in Gilchrist County, US, began serving customers on 18 December 2019. The facility is 74.9 MW and has 280 000 solar panels.
• The 1 millionth panel was installed at the 74.9 MW Columbia Solar Power Plant, which includes approximately 300 000 solar panels and is anticipated to begin servicing customers in March 2020.

Additional solar power plants are under way in Florida.

The 74.5 MW DeBary Solar Power Plant is under construction in Volusia County, US, and will have 300 000 solar panels, with universal service to the power grid in 2Q2020.

The Twin Rivers Solar Power Plant will be built on 460 acres in Hamilton County. Once operational, the 74.9 MW facility will consist of approximately 235 000 tracking solar panels that track the movement of the sun.

The Santa Fe Solar Power Plant will be built on approximately 600 acres in Columbia County, US. The 74.9 MW plant will consist of approximately 235 000 tracking solar panels.

Over the next decade, the company will continue to make innovative and targeted investments in additional solar power plants, battery storage technology, shared solar, transportation electrification and a modernised power grid to help meet customers' needs for diverse, reliable energy solutions.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/solar/25022020/duke-energy-florida-installs-1-000-000th-solar-panel/