Western North Carolina’s largest rooftop solar array went online this afternoon on the rooftop of Conrad Industries’ A-B Emblem facility in Weaverville. The system is expected to generate 325,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity this year alone — roughly the energy demand of 22 homes — reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 230 tons.
SunEnergy1 owns and operates the array and Progress Energy Carolina has signed an agreement to purchase the system’s entire output and use it to provide power to its customers through its SunSense program. The photovoltaic array, now the largest in Western North Carolina, will be one of the largest in the country when Phase II of the project is completed sometime next year.
Photo by Michael Muller
Well done, A-B Emblem! Congrats to Paul Conrad in particular. Who’s next;)
For all of us who worked together to divert the oil fired power plant in Woodfin, we could not be more gratified. Thank you A-B Emblem and Paul Conrad.
Was very proud of WNC, Buncombe County, A-B Emblem and particularly Maggie Ullman, Asheville’s sustainability guru. She was mentioned during the ceremony because of the sustainability study she authored. Her bright ideas attracted both SunEnergy1 and the Chamber of Commerce, creating the link that arrived at this project. Maggie is on the City staff due to great thinking by the City Council (before my term), and she is a foundational force in moving our city toward a sustainable future. Hats off to you, Maggie! You are helping to make Asheville a green energy leader!