Construction has started at Duke Energy's solar facility at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Onslow County, N.C.
The 13MW (AC) project is Duke Energy's first solar facility at a military base. Covering 100 acres, it will be owned and operated by Duke Energy Progress (DEP) and is expected to be online in 2015.
"This collaborative endeavor allows us to bring our years of experience in managing, operating and integrating energy resources on the grid, while allowing the Marines to focus on their missions of training and service," said Rob Caldwell, Duke Energy's senior vice president for distributed energy resources.
The project will enable the Department of the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps to meet critical renewable energy and energy security goals.
Crowder Construction Services is serving as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. The project will use approximately 54,000 monocrystalline solar panels supplied by SolarWorld Americas. GE's Power Conversion business will supply its Brilliance inverters to be built out of its Pittsburgh facility.