By Laurin Penland
Wilmington, NC – Steve Bridges, Project Manager for the Wilmington Convention Center, passed around a thin black sheet of photo voltaic material to city council last week. He says a company wants to install the material on the roof of the convention center at no cost to the city.
AGT, Advanced Green Technologies, submitted a proposal to the city to lease the convention center roof and cover it in solar panels that look like black linoleum.
If the city signs the contract, then AGT will seek a partnership with Progress Energy, who will pay the company for the power generated by the solar panels.
All of this is the result of a bill passed in the North Carolina Senate in 2007, which forces power companies such as Progress Energy to have .02 percent of their power coming from solar panels by 2010 and twelve and a half percent from renewable energy sources by 2020.
AGT has done similar projects across the U.S. and Europe, including ones in New Bern and Raleigh.
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