Duke Energy Corp. recently bought a 1-megawatt solar farm on the grounds of an elementary school in Murphy for an undisclosed price.
The farm comprises 4,400 ground-mounted photovoltaic solar modules at Martins Creek Elementary School in the N.C. mountains. It will generate about 1.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. That’s enough to power 150 average-sized homes.
Subsidiary Duke Energy Renewables bought the farm from ESA Renewables, which designed and built it. The company operates it for Duke (NYSE: DUK). Its power is sold to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The installation is believed to be the only one of its kind on school property in the state and the third-largest solar farm sited on school grounds in the country.
The 10-year power-purchase agreement with TVA gives a share of the revenue to the school. Those receipts will equal the cost of staffing two full-time teachers.
The Martins Creek project is Duke Energy Renewables’ fourth commercial solar farm in North Carolina and fifth nationwide.
Duke Energy Renewables is part of the Charlotte-based parent’s unregulated commercial businesses. The company owns nine wind farms and four solar farms in five states with 1,000 megawatts in electric capacity.