Strata Solar to build state's largest solar farm in Duplin County | newsobserver

Strata Solar, a Chapel Hill solar energy developer, announced plans Monday for a 100 megawatt solar farm in Duplin County, five times bigger than the next-largest solar farm in the state.

The $250 million project is slated to begin construction this year and to begin generating electricity in late 2014 in Warsaw, about 75 miles south of Raleigh. Strata Solar said the project would generate enough power for 11,500 homes.

The company plans to file a formal proposal with the N.C. Utilities Commission in the coming weeks. Strata Solar would sell the power to Progress Energy, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, but the company has not yet finalized a power purchase agreement with the electric utility.

Strata has built about 100 megawatts of solar projects that are generating electricity in North Carolina, and has several hundred megawatts more under development in the state, including two projects sized at 20 megawatts.

Apple, the maker of the iPhone and iPad, has developed a 20-megawatt solar farm at its data center in Maiden, about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte.

Strata employs 50 at its Chapel Hill office and plans to employ 400 contractors in the field to assemble the Duplin County solar projects.

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