ESA Renewables (ESA) has announced it has begun construction on a 1.3 MW commercial rooftop solar project in the city of New Bern in Craven County, North Carolina. This project is one of the largest rooftop photovoltaic (PV) arrays in eastern North Carolina, and will help bring clean, renewable solar energy to New Bern residents.

Having executed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Progress Energy ESA expects the PV array to be completed in December of this year.

According to the terms of the contract, ESA will build, operate, maintain the system and additionally install its proprietary monitoring system to monitor operation of the array for the 20-year term of the PPA contract.

ESA will sell the entire energy output from the system to Progress Energy which will distribute solar energy to its customers in the area.

"ESA is delighted to take a leading role in the adoption of solar power in New Bern," said Jeffrey Burkett, president of ESA Renewables. "Renewable energy projects such as this rooftop solar array boost economic development, create jobs and have a positive impact on our environment."

Over the next few weeks, ESA will complete the installation of 5,376 Canadian Solar modules, which produce 235 watts (W) each and will cover 175,122 square feet of rooftop space on the building's rooftop.

This project is expected to produce 1,691,639 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year, enough clean renewable energy to power approximately 200 homes each year.

"This is an exciting project and a landmark installation in a region that hasn't traditionally been thought of as a prime solar energy market," said Alan King, general manager of Canadian Solar USA.

"ESA Renewables is actively driving and enabling major solar projects across the country that demonstrates the value and viability of solar, and we're proud ESA has selected our modules to help bring more than a million kilowatt hours of clean energy to North Carolina."

The inverters ESA selected for the project are Advanced Energy (AE) PV Powered 260kW commercial inverters.

"We continue to be impressed by ESA's leadership in bringing solar energy onto our nation's electric grid with impactful projects like this," said Steve Levy, VP of Sales and Marketing for AE Solar Energy. "AE is pleased to be a partner in this project, and we look forward to collaborating with ESA on future solar projects."