The Rinehart Solar Farm project, located in Lake Mary, Florida, will have a total capacity of 10MW and an annual generation of approximately 15,000,000kWh. This is equivalent to the annual energy use of roughly 1,100 area homes, the company said.
The project will cover a portion of the 380,000sqft 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 120kW. It will feature 520 monocrystalline 230W panels and two 60kW Fronius inverters. The first stage is expected to be completed by July, 2010. Stage two is a roof top plant consisting of 500kW. Subsequent stages will consist of a third, 1.4MW rooftop system and 8MW 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 jobs while building local expertise in solar energy, according to the company.
Lawrence Hefler, spokesperson for the company, said: “We expect the Rinehart Solar Farm to serve as a model in the state of Florida for more large-scale, alternative-energy projects.”
