US utility develops $100m solar grid

One of the largest utility companies in the US is looking for businesses to bid for a $100m (£56.5m) solar project that the company is planning in North Carolina.

Duke Energy hopes to install electricity-generating photovoltaic panels at up to 850 sites in the state, including homes and business premises such as warehouses and large manufacturing facilities – both on roofs and on the ground. However, Duke would own the panels, and the electricity generated would be fed into the central grid rather than being used exclusively at the site where the panel was installed, the company said.

In a statement released this week, Duke said it is looking for companies that specialise in solar technology to supply and install the solar panels and associated equipment at all the sites. Customers would be compensated for the use of their land or roof based on how much electricity was generated at each location.

However, the proposal, first announced in June, requires approval by the North Carolina Utilities Commission before it can be implemented. The company is planning to begin work on the scheme by 2009 and complete it by 2010.

Duke claims the North Carolina solar panel project would mark its first large-scale involvement in distributed generation, in which electricity is generated close to customers rather than at large, centralised power plants.