North Carolina has become a leader in solar energy thanks to a combination of sunny weather, low costs, state government initiatives, and tax credits included in federal legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act. According to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association, the Tar Heel State ranks fourth in the nation for solar installations. Last year, WSOC-TV reported that North Carolina was ninth in the country in terms of new installations.
Solar projects in North Carolina run the gamut from major installations that generate enough electricity to power nearly 18,000 homes — such as the Albemarle Beach Solar project in Roper — to smaller projects that power a single dwelling.
Photo Courtesy SEIA
Landing between those two extremes is a new solar project at the American Tire Distributors (ATD) headquarters in the Charlotte suburb of Huntersville, North Carolina. It was completed and commissioned by Correlate Energy, a distributed energy company based in Boise, Idaho.
Work wrapped up in December and involved installing a rooftop solar system at the ATD facility. Over the next 20 years, the system is expected to reduce ATD’s carbon dioxide emissions by 5,463 tons. Energy Tech reported that’s equivalent to the emissions produced by roughly 12.4 million miles of gas-powered passenger car travel.
Photo Courtesy Correlate
ATD operates more than 120 distribution centers that serve about 80,000 customers nationwide. According to a press release dated Dec. 12, 2023, the company’s “dedication to environmental responsibility” prompted it to partner with Correlate Energy for the headquarters solar project.
In addition to helping ATD operate more sustainably, the system should generate “substantial cost savings for ATD by reducing its reliance on traditional energy sources.”
Correlate Energy describes itself as a “portfolio-scale real estate platform” on a mission to eliminate barriers property owners face when looking for energy optimization and sustainability goals. The company website says its membership platform is designed to reduce “friction between portfolio managers and service providers by unleashing stakeholders from spreadsheets, vendor fatigue, and any need for upfront capital investment to increase building net operating income” for clients.
Photo Courtesy Solar Energy Industries Association
The ATD solar project represents a big market win for Correlate, which trades as an over-the-counter (OTC) stock under the symbol CIPI.
“We are thrilled to unveil this remarkable project, reflecting our dedication to providing clients with best-in-class sustainability solutions and reducing their carbon footprint,” Todd Michaels, Correlate Energy CEO, said in a statement. “Completing this project at another nationally recognized headquarters building is a major milestone as this initiative showcases the powerful link between sustainability and profitability.”
Just as the completed ATD project was announced, Correlate disclosed that it broke ground on its “largest corporate campus project to date” in Reading, Pennsylvania. Although the project’s official name was not given, Correlate said in a press release that it “originally started” at 3.8 megawatts but has since grown in size to 5.2 megawatts.“This project demonstrates once again clean energy remains both economically attractive and more reliable than the traditional grid,” Michaels said in the press release.
