The FAMU Solar Farm Committee appointed by President Larry Robinson will present a proposal to the Board of Trustees this week to let Duke Energy rent 800 acres of land in Brooksville in order to build and operate a solar farm.
It would be bigger than the 650-acre solar farm that MIT built in North Carolina with two other partner organizations. A March 23, 2017 newsletter by MIT said that “it is the largest renewable energy project ever built in the U.S. through an alliance among different organizations, and has already spawned interest among other institutions and organizations seeking to emulate the successful aggregation process.”
The rent from Duke Energy will bring millions of dollars to FAMU. When the solar farm is up-and-running, FAMU will be paid $850.00 per usable acre which comes out to an estimated $510,000-$680,000 per year. The annual rent escalation would be $2.5 and the operational period would be for 25 years, with the expiration date set for February 28, 2048.
FAMU would also establish a Center for Advanced Renewal Energy Research that would use data from the solar farm for research and teaching purposes.