Dominion Virginia Power will install state’s largest solar roof in Gloucester

Dominion Virginia Power will install more than 2,000 solar panels on the rooftop of Canon Virginia Inc.'s Industrial Resource Technologies facility in Gloucester, making it the largest roof solar system in the state.

The project is part of a program in which Dominion leases rooftop or ground space at commercial, industrial or public facilities for installation of solar panels. When operational, the panels at the Gloucester facility will generate more than 500 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power about 125 homes.

Under the Solar Partnership Program, Dominion ultimately plans to construct and operate up to 30 megawatts of company-owned solar facilities throughout the company's Virginia service area. When fully implemented, the program will be able to generate enough power for 7,500 homes.

“The Solar Partnership Program is designed to expand Dominion's understanding of community-based solar energy by studying its impact and assessing its benefits,” Ken Barker, vice president of Customer Solutions and Energy Conservation, said in a statement.  “The Canon project is our largest installation to date and will enable us to evaluate the benefits of distributed generation on our system.”

Distributed generation is the production of electricity at or near the point of its consumption. All the electricity generated in the $2 million Gloucester project will flow to the electric grid for use by Dominion Virginia Power customers.

PowerSecure, a North Carolina-based company with offices in Virginia, has been selected as the engineering, procurement and construction company on the project. Construction is scheduled to start in December, with the panels scheduled to be installed and operational in early 2014.

Dominion Virginia Power is a subsidiary of Dominion, one of the country’s largest producers and transporters of energy.