Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

Development of 10 MW Florida solar farm underway

05. June 2010 | Applications & Installations, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By:  Becky Stuart

BlueChip Energy has started on stage one of the Rinehart Solar Farm, a 10 megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV) facility in Central Florida, the U.S. It is expected to be one of the state’s largest private solar plants.

The project, located in Lake Mary, Fla., will have a total capacity of 10 MW and an annual generation of approximately 15,000,000 kilowatt-hours. This is, says the company, equivalent to the annual energy use of roughly 1,100 area homes. It will cover a portion of the 380,000 square foot rooftop space and surrounding acreage of BlueChip Energy’s Lake Mary facility.

The solar farm is being built in stages, starting with a roof top plant totaling 120 kilowatts (kW). It will feature 520 monocrystalline 230 Watt panels and two 60 kW Fronius inverters. The first stage is expected to be completed this July. Stage two is a roof top plant consisting of 500 kW. Subsequent stages will consist of a third, 1.4 MW rooftop system and 8 MW of ground-based systems.

The company has a power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply Progress Energy Florida with renewable solar power from the Rinehart Solar Farm. As a clean energy project, it will stimulate the local economy by creating an estimated 100 high-paying, high-skilled jobs while building local expertise in solar energy.

“We expect the Rinehart Solar Farm to serve as a model in the state of Florida for more large-scale, alternative-energy projects," commented Lawrence Hefler, spokesperson for the company.