Duke Energy and ENN are already thru EcoPartnership conducting field trials of voltaic solar panels in North Carolina

Duke Energy helped form a public private
EcoPartnership between Duke Energy, ENN Group and the cities of Charlotte and Langfang.

The signing ceremony took place on May 10th,
2011 at the U.S. State Department.

The EcoPartnership program is an effort
by the U.S. Department of State and the
Chinese National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) to formally link U.S.
and Chinese stakeholders in a productive
exchange of knowledge and best practices in
the fields of clean energy and sustainability.
The EcoPartnership program was established as
part of the Ten Year Framework on Energy and
Environmental Cooperation, a set of agreements
through U.S. and China’s Strategic and
Economic Dialogue convened in Washington and Beijing every year.
The program’s goal is to facilitate the exchange of information and best practices between the two countries to stimulate innovation and develop solutions to a variety of pressing energy and environmental challenges.  As one of only a dozen such partnerships, Duke Energy’s EcoPartnership
is designed to help both public and private stakeholders leverage the experience and technical expertise of all parties to advance.

EcoPartnership Projects
Solar Power Development
Duke Energy and ENN are already conducting field trials of the ENN photovoltaic panels in North Carolina against a range of other types of panels to better understand how panel types, such as thin film, are affected by regional differences.  Going forward the companies would like to use these testing results to improve solar panel efficiency through a joint effort.
Community Energy Storage
Duke Energy and ENN will use ENN’s build out of the EcoCity to test community
and home energy storage. The companies can then compare and contrast the trial
results against Duke Energy’s field testing at the McAlpine substation to fine tune
critical functions like peak shaving for renewable power sources.
Smart Grid Technology and Management
Duke Energy and ENN will use their respective test sites at McAlpine and the
EcoCity to further understand the benefits and best practices associated with
various smart grid technologies. Everything from smart meters to communication
nodes will be closely monitored and analyzed to find the right mix of technology
and management techniques.