Duke Energy to Build up to 400 'Mini' Solar Power Plants in North Carolina

clipped from www.worldofrenewables.com "Solar and wind are both going to be key parts of our strategy going forward," Rogers told reporters following the company's annual meeting. The North Carolina Utilities Commission on Wednesday issued a decision allowing Duke Energy to proceed with its $50-million proposal to install solar panels on the roofs and grounds of homes, schools, office buildings, shopping malls, warehouses and industrial plants, starting later this year. Collectively, the solar sites will generate enough electricity to power 1,300 homes. The electricity will flow directly from the solar sites to the electrical grid that serves all customers. Duke Energy's solar initiative will be among the nation's first and largest demonstrations of distributed generation, in which electricity is produced at numerous micro generating sites rather than at a large, centralized, traditional power plant. "We are redefining our boundaries. We're looking ahead and we're looking around the corner," Rogers told shareholders