CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy today announced a number of partner companies it will use to build three previously announced solar projects in North Carolina by the end of 2015.

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The company will construct and own some of the largest solar facilities on the East Coast, totaling 128 megawatts (MW) of capacity. These projects are part of the company's recently announced $500 million commitment to solar.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2015. When underway, up to 750 local construction jobs will be created. Before construction, the projects must obtain approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC).

"In addition to helping our local economies, the projects will benefit customers by having experienced solar companies involved," said Rob Caldwell, senior vice president, Distributed Energy Resources. "This furthers Duke Energy's commitment to the communities we serve while meeting our goal of bringing large amounts of cost-effective renewable energy onto our system."

Duke Energy projects


    --  At the 65-MW Warsaw Solar Facility in Duplin County, Chapel Hill-based
        Strata Solar will serve as the engineering, procurement and construction
        (EPC) contractor. The project will use solar panels manufactured by
        Arizona-based First Solar, and the solar inverters will be manufactured
        by the German company SMA Solar Technology, with production facilities
        in Denver, Colo.
    --  At the 40-MW Elm City Solar Facility in Wilson County, First Solar will
        supply its Series-4 thin-film solar panels and serve as the EPC
        contractor. SMA Solar Technology will supply the inverters.
    --  At the 23-MW project in Bladen County, near the Cumberland County line,
        Arizona-based Phoenix Solar will be the project's EPC contactor. The
        solar panels will be manufactured by Yingli Solar.

Duke Energy will also purchase power from five other new solar projects to be built and owned by other companies. Altogether, the eight projects total 278 MW.

TV editors

Duke Energy has solar b-roll footage in a Dropbox account. It is in an MP4 format. Send an email to randy.wheeless@duke-energy.com if you would like to download it. The company will reply to your email and give you access to the folder.

Background

More information about Duke Energy's overall solar program can be found here: http://www.duke-energy.com/solar

You can also follow Duke Energy on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DukeEnergy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DukeEnergy

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at http://www.duke-energy.com/.

Contact: Randy Wheeless
Office: 704.382.8379
24-hour media line: 800.559.3853
Twitter: @DE_RandyW

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SOURCE Duke Energy