Nearly 6-MW Array Providing Clean, Green Power to More Than 600 Homes
The first solar farm in Orange County has been completed at OUC's Curtis H. Stanton Energy Center along Innovation Way. The 5.9-Megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) array in east Orange County can generate enough renewable energy to power more than 600 homes.
Duke Energy and Regenesis Power LLC are installing, operating and maintaining the system, and OUC plans to purchase that power for the next 20 years.
“The solar farm not only increases OUC’s portfolio of clean generation, it also provides the opportunity to study the impact a large-scale solar array will have on our electric distribution system,” said OUC Board President Maylen Dominguez at a dedication ceremony at the site December 7, 2011.
The first solar farm in Orange County is located at OUC's Curtis H. Stanton Energy Center along Innovation Way.
The solar farm adds to an already diverse fleet of clean, reliable generation at OUC’s 3,280-acre Stanton Energy Center, which is home to natural gas, landfill gas and coal.
OUC customers who travel along Innovation Way can see the solar generation that is providing renewable energy to their homes and businesses. More than 25,000 PV modules are easily visible from the road.
The solar panels feature a patented single-axis tracking system that increases electricity output by up to 30 percent and can withstand hurricane-force winds in the stow position.
STANTON SOLAR FARM BY THE NUMBERS
- 1st solar farm in Orange County and 1st OUC solar farm
- 25,172 solar modules
- 5.91 Megawatts – enough energy for 600 homes. The power is distributed differently each minute, based on the specific needs of the grid at any one moment.
- 35 acres of solar panels
- 600 tons of steel was used to support the modules
- 40 mile per hour sustained wind gusts will prompt the panels to move into a horizontal, hurricane-proof position
- 17 miles of electric wire connects the modules to the electric grid
- 20 years projected life of the solar farm
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