Why did Duke Energy choose solar PV technology?
Duke Energy is continuing to diversify the mix of fuels we use to generate electricity for our customers by making significant investments in a variety of renewable energy sources to add to our hydroelectric capacity. This includes solar, wind, biomass and landfill gas. We are also pursuing a balanced approach which involves building and operating some of these resources ourselves, as well as entering into agreements with independent project owners to purchase renewable energy. We selected PV technology for this program to help us evaluate the effects of distributed generation on our system, gain experience in owning and operating renewable energy sources, and encourage development of the solar industry in North Carolina. We also chose solar PV over solar thermal systems because the Southeast does not have adequate solar resources to support solar thermal systems, nor can they effectively be built in a small-scale distributed manner. We did not consider solar hot water for this program
