Duke Energy to start construction of floating solar pilot in Florida

(Reuters) – Duke Energy Corp said on Thursday that its Florida unit would start construction of about 1 megawatt floating solar array pilot later this month in Polk County.

The pilot will feature more than 1,800 floating solar modules and occupy about 2 acres of water surface at the company’s Hines Energy Complex in Bartow, it said.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, 1 MW solar powers about 173 homes.

Last month, Duke boosted its five-year capital plan to $65 billion, with about 80% aimed at low-carbon energy.

The energy company’s power and gas utilities serve more than 8 million businesses and homes in the Carolinas, parts of Florida and the Midwest, and it owns about 50,000 MW of energy capacity.

(Reporting by Ankit Kumar; Editing by Maju Samuel)