National Renewable Energy Corporation (NARENCO), a Charlotte based engineering, procurement and construction contractor, recently completed construction of the 4.4 MW Ararat Rock Solar Farm in Mount Airy, North Carolina. O2 Energies, the developer and owner of the new Ararat Rock Solar Farm, chose NARENCO to construct the system on the 25 acre site. "NARENCO is honored to have been selected to work with O2 Energies on the Ararat Rock Solar Farm. We have designed and built the project to take advantage of the natural contours of the site, creating a stunning project for O2 Energies, Mt. Airy and Surry County", said Dennis Richter, president of NARENCO.
The approximately 6,288 MWh per year of electricity generated by the array is being sold to Duke Energy to power hundreds of local homes and businesses. The new array is located next to the Ararat Rock Products quarry which has been in operation more than 60 years. Due to proximity, much of the power produced by the array will be consumed by the rock quarry during operating hours. Local sheep are maintaining the grass inside the fenced area while family farmers will work the land around the perimeter of the solar farm.
The Ararat Rock Solar Farm was built with more than 18,000 REC modules which are manufactured with US produced silicon. In addition, Advanced Energy (AE) supplied the inverters that were manufactured in Colorado. Surrey Bank & Trust, a local institution, provided debt financing and insurance, making it one of the first local banks to participate in financing a large solar farm in their own community. O2 Energies worked with Surry Community College to provide workforce training for contractors and NARENCO utilized local labor and vendors during the 16 weeks of construction of the Ararat Rock Solar Farm.
