Agenda - 05-05-2009 - 3b - Laserfiche WebLink

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11 DEVELOPMENT OF A SOLAR CLUSTER IN ORANGE COUNTY April 13, 2009 Orange County Economic Development Commission this energy use is, consider the following illustration provided by James Udall (Udall, 1995): One KWh can power ten 100 watt light bulbs for one hour It takes on KWh of work to carry one 90 pound pack from sea level to the top of Mount Everest (29,000 feet) Each cycle of an automatic dishwasher uses more than 1 KWh of energy To answer this growing appetite for energy, we must develop a more diversified energy supply. Increasing the energy efficiency of houses and appliances will address a portion of this demand; another important part of the strategy is development of additional energy sources. Because North Carolina has historically offered inexpensive energy, energy savings and efficiency measures have not been as fully developed as in state where energy costs are higher. North Carolina ranks 34`~ in energy intensity -only 17 states have more energy intensive economies (Cherry and Saha, 2008). In addition to a large appetite for energy, North Carolina is one of the fastest growing states -North Carolina can expect nearly 4 million additional residents by 2030 (Cherry and Saha, 2008) -this additional energy will have to come from somewhere. Our area's rapid growth and limited energy alternatives make balancing the energy equation even more of a challenge. However, as summarized by the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEn progress report on North Carolina's energy economy (IEI, 2008) "...these changes also present important opportunities, especially for states and regions that move early and aggressively. North Carolina must be one of these leaders." Solar Focus Although there are several options in renewable energy, solar energy was identified as the most appropriate for the current focus in Orange County. Although wind For EDC use only 5