BlueChip Energy starts first stage of 10MW

BlueChip Energy has started the first stage of the Rinehart Solar Farm, a 10MW utility-scale PV facility in Lake Mary, FL. The central Florida project will use a combination of rooftop and ground-mounted systems.

The solar field is being built in stages, beginning with a 120KW rooftop plant featuring 520 monocrystalline-silicon 230W panels and two 60KW Fronius inverters that should be completed by July.

The second stage will be another rooftop system, with an installed capacity of 500KW. The following stages will consist of another rooftop system (1.4MW) and 8MW of ground-based systems.

BlueChip has a power purchase agreement to supply utility company Progress Energy Florida with energy generated from the Rinehart Solar Farm.

No timeline for the development of the remaining stages of the 10MW PV power plant has been disclosed. Once commissioned, the system will provide 15MWh of electricity per year, enough to power 1100 homes, according to the company.

Although BlueChip did not cite the brand of solar modules being used for the initial phase of the project, the company does have a relationship with Florida-based PV panelmaker Advanced Solar Photonics.