As sunny as the southeastern U.S. is, solar power development hasn't taken off as quickly as you'd think. That will change dramatically when a new 400 MW solar farm is built in one of three states: Florida, Georgia or North Carolina. The huge project could potentially be the world's largest when it's completed. The current largest is an 80 MW solar plant in Ontario, Canada, but many large projects are in the planning or construction stages.
The project, being developed by National Solar Power, will consist of 20, 200-acre solar farms each with a capacity of 20 MW. The panels will be seven feet tall or less and surrounded by vegetation to help them blend into the landscape. The project will be able to power about 32,000 homes.
The areas that are being considered for the huge solar project are Gadsden, Hardee, Osceola and Suwannee counties in Florida, Sumter and Tatnall counties in Georgia, and Guilford County in North Carolina. National Solar Power is weighing factors like amount of undeveloped land, economic development and tax incentives, community support and access to a qualified workforce.
The project will create 400 jobs during its five-year construction and about 120 permanent jobs. The decision of where it will be built should be made by the end of the month.
Image via National Solar
