Wallboard plant gathers sunshine
National Gypsum and Duke Energy have joined forces to provide solar energy to the utility company’s electrical grid. The roof of the company’s Mt. Holly Plant near Charlotte, NC, is a key component in the $50 million project.

The utility has leased a significant portion of the roof to install photovoltaic cells to collect solar energy. The system will produce 1.17 megawatts on a sunny day, or enough energy to power 700 average-sized homes.

The plant roof is one of four North Carolina solar installations in the Duke Energy project and the only manufacturing location. The distributed generation probram Duke is rolling out is one of the largest in the nation.

“Duke is leasing 156,000 square feet over the plant warehouse area,” said Jim Ruggiero, director of energy procurement at National Gypsum. “The plant is ideally situated in a north-south orientation. There is also a 480-volt distribution line near the building. Duke will be able to connect directly into it.”

Because of voltage requirements, the plant will not use any of the electricity generated on the roof. Installation of the 5096 panels should be complete by the end of the year. Duke Energy will own, operate, and maintain all components of the system. The lease agreement is for 25 years.

Many flights going into Charlotte-Douglas airport have a “bird’s eye” view of the solar panels.

The solar project is part of a long-standing relationship with the power company. National Gypsum has contracts to purchase byproduct gypsum for the Mt. Holly Plant from four of the utility’s nearby coal-fired plants.