Here comes the sun

Dominion Virginia Power said nearly 235,000 solar panels are generating power now that the company has completed construction on three large-scale solar facilities in Isle of Wight, Louisa and Powhatan counties.

Dominion said Wednesday that the facilities at peak output will produce 56 megawatts (MW) of generation, enough to power more than 14,000 homes.

Amec Foster Wheeler, Dominion’s construction contractor, managed the facilities through the engineering and environmental permitting process in the first half of 2016 and completed construction during the next five months. The facilities became operational in December.

Dominion acquired the solar development in Isle of Wight from Coronal Development Services and the development in Powhatan from Virginia Solar LLC. The facility in Louisa was developed by Dominion.

According to Dominion, the projects created more than 550 jobs during the construction period. They are expected to have a $74.2 million cumulative economic impact on the state in 2015-2017.

The  solar panel count is 71,820 panels in Powhatan or 17 MW, 79,572 panels in  Isle of Wight, 19 MW; and 83,600 panels in  Louisa, 20 MW.

Dominion has announced 391 megawatts of large-scale solar facilities under development or already in operation in 12 Virginia localities. According to the company, this amounts to enough electricity at peak capacity to power more than 95,000 homes.