FLS Energy and First Light Solar News
FLS & First Light Solar News
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2010.03.05 – Retirement center investing $1M to harness solar power
A Greensboro retirement facility is planning a $1 million solar panel project that is designed to reduce its fossil fuel costs by about $30,000 per year. Wilson Sheldon, CEO of Friends Homes Inc., said his company will install a total of 208 solar panels on the roofs of its two retirement communities, Friends Homes West on West Friendly Avenue and Friends Homes at Guilford on New Garden Road. Asheville-based FLS Energy — which also designed and installed the panels for the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro — will install and maintain the solar panels, he said. Work will begin in April and should be finished by September. The panels will provide about 10,000 gallons of hot water for more than 600 residents each day, Sheldon said, making up about 80 percent of its hot water needs, with natural gas service providing the rest.
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2010.03.05 – Suniva Announces Commissioning of Evergreen Solar Farm in North Carolina
Suniva, a leading solar cell and module manufacturer in the U.S., announced the commissioning of 555-kW Evergreen Solar Farm in North Carolina, with its partner FLS Energy. This project was constructed on a site that was formerly a landfill. The solar facility uses Suniva’s high-powered solar modules and was built through a 20-year power purchase contract from FLS Energy to provide renewable energy to Progress Energy’s customers in the region.
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2010.03.05 – Western North Carolina’s Largest Solar Array Is Now Online
Progress Energy Carolinas' generation mix in Western N.C. is a little sunnier, as the region's largest solar photovoltaic (PV) array is now online and generating electricity. The new 555-kilowatt (kW) Evergreen Solar Farm is owned and operated by FLS Energy and built on Evergreen Packaging's now-closed landfill in Haywood County. Progress Energy Carolinas is purchasing the array's entire output for distribution to the company's customers. This solar PV array project created five new jobs and is expected to generate approximately 730,000 kilowatt-hours every year. This is roughly equivalent to the annual electricity demand from 51 average North Carolina homes. This will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 525 tons per year, which is the equivalent of removing 100 vehicles from the roads in Western North Carolina.
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2010.03.04 – Solar PV Projects Generate New Value for Property That Once Was Trashed
Now, in North Carolina, a 555-kilowatt array, called the Evergreen Solar Farm, has gone online at the former landfill of Evergreen Packaging, a century-old paper-products company. "The solar age has dawned," said Michael Shore, chief executive of FLS Energy, which owns and operates the solar array. "FLS Energy converted an old landfill to an electricity generation facility, creating jobs and clean energy along the way," he added, according to a news release. The utility Progress Energy Carolinas is buying the solar plant's generated electricity for distribution to its customers. The project includes a 20-year power-purchase agreement, which is similar to a lease. These agreements often do not require any up-front cost. They are commonly used by businesses and governments to obtain solar electricity and are available to homeowners in a limited number of leading solar states, with more on the way.
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2010.03.04 – FLS Energy Solar Farm Goes Live with High-Performance Solar Modules from Suniva
Suniva, Inc., a U.S. manufacturer of high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells and modules, today announced the commissioning of the Evergreen Solar Farm in Canton, North Carolina, with partner FLS Energy. Set atop a former landfill, the 555 kW project utilizes high-powered Suniva solar modules and was constructed via a 20-year power purchase agreement from FLS Energy to supply clean energy to the region's Progress Energy customers. The installation went live at a local ceremony on March 1st in which Congressman Health Shuler spoke at the press conference and toured the Evergreen Solar Farm.
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2010.03.03 – Tapping the power of the sun
A new solar farm is on line in Canton sporting 2,340 solar panels on four acres — generating enough electricity to power 51 homes. A new state law that mandates utilities get 12.5 percent of their power from renewable sources by the year 2021 was the catalyst for the solar farm. “A project like this really starts with good policy,” said Michael Shore, president of FLS Energy, which installed the solar field.
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2010.03.01 – Western North Carolina’s largest solar array is now online
The new 555-kilowatt (kW) Evergreen Solar Farm is owned and operated by FLS Energy and built on Evergreen Packaging’s now-closed landfill in Haywood County. Progress Energy Carolinas is purchasing the array’s entire output for distribution to the company’s customers.
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2010.02.23 – First Light Solar Presents: Economics of Solar (E.O.S.) Informational Session on Solar Hot Water
Asheville, N.C. – First Light Solar, a division of FLS Energy, is presenting a solar energy information session called E.O.S (Economics of Solar) for Asheville residents Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 6 p.m. The session will be held at The Green Sage Coffeehouse and Café located at 5 Broadway Street in downtown Asheville. The E.O.S. session [...]
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2010.02.17 – Greenville Hotel Goes Green: Solar Panels To Heat Marriott’s Water
The new Courtyard by Marriott that is the centerpiece of the Main @ Broad development now has 60 solar panels on its roof, designed, engineered and installed by FLS Energy. Developer Bo Aughtry says those panels will supply the hotel with about 3,000 gallons of hot water each day, and he expects the panels to pay for themselves within five or six years. Aughtry says it’s the largest commercial solar installation in South Carolina, and it’s the first domestic Marriott to have solar hot water.
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2010.02.16 – Exploring Possibilities with Solar Field Trip
Members of Haywood Community College’s Advanced Technologies Department recently took a field trip to FLS Energy’s Evergreen Solar Farm in Canton. The division is exploring how to integrate solar technology into the curriculum.
