Charlotte firm to install solar farm in Mount Airy

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Congratulations, O2 Energies.

Mount Airy could find itself at the cutting edge of the “green power” movement through the development of a proposed solar farm on city-owned property near the wastewater-treatment plant.

The city board of commissioners unanimously approved a letter of intent Tuesday night that will allow a Charlotte-based firm to move forward with the project.

An entity known as O2Energies is proposing to lease two sites totaling roughly six acres near the sewage-treatment facility located off U.S. 52 at the southernmost boundary of the city limits.

Plans call for a 1-megawatt facility at the site, according to Joel Olsen, managing director of the company. “This would generate enough power to offset the consumption of roughly 200 households,” Olsen told board members in explaining the electrical production to be realized.

Information presented Tuesday night shows that O2Energies has planned, designed and installed more than 70 solar energy systems of different types. It has formed a “strategic partnership” with Pike Electric Inc. in Mount Airy to help make the local effort a reality. Pike has been branching out into alternative energy systems in addition to its traditional focus on electricity, based on Tuesday night’s discussion.

Read the rest of this Mount Airy News article, by Tom Joyce, here.

Get a feel for what the solar farm may look like by watching this installation in Charlottesville, Va., last month: