ROANOKE, Va. - Appalachian Power's first company-owned solar project in rural Amherst County, Virginia is an impressive site. With its rows of solar panels, the five megawatt facility is expected to generate about 10,500 megawatt hours of electricity a year or enough to power roughly 1,000 to 1,500 homes. 

The distribution-level solar farm is situated on about 50 acres of farmland less than five miles outside the town of Amherst. About half of the acreage is dedicated to the 16,300 solar panels needed to generate power. The remaining land is reserved for stormwater measures and buffering.

After about a year of permitting, contracting and construction, the solar farm began generating electricity for APCo customers on Oct. 4, 2023. 

The project was constructed by SolAmerica Energy (SAE) and purchased by AEP upon completion.

The project represents a bit of history for Appalachian Power, too. "The Amherst facility is the company's first solar generator and our first renewable energy generator put into service since Smith Mountain Lake," explained Will Castle, Appalachian Power's Virginia/Tennessee regulatory director. "As such, it represents the start of the long-anticipated transition to zero-carbon generation for Appalachian Power."

Under Virginia law, Appalachian Power must provide power for customers via clean energy sources by 2050. Most of the company's solar energy is currently purchased by way of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). With a PPA, the company does not own the facility rather purchases the energy output from the solar farm.