from The Gazette Virginian - The year 2010 will go down in the record books with nearly $200 million in new investments announced here, and one group in Halifax County is looking forward to the New Year and reflecting on the outgoing one.

Staff of the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and specifically IDA Executive Director Mike Sexton are upbeat when reflecting on 2010 and even more upbeat on 2011.

Virginia Power to build solar generating plant

By Peter Bacque | RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Dominion Virginia Power will use a $5 million grant from the Virginia Tobacco Commission to help build a pilot photovoltaic power plant in Halifax County.

Project will lead to 100 construction jobs and up to 150 high-tech manufacturing jobs

The Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County and Dominion Virginia Power today announced plans to develop an initiative to build a pilot demonstration facility for solar power generation and battery storage.  The facility would generate about 4 megawatts of power and be the largest integrated solar-battery facility in Virginia.

Solar energy holds enormous potential in Southside Virginia; however, the challenge is integrating this variable resource in a reliable way on the electric grid. Battery storage provides a means for effectively managing, storing and optimizing solar energy to regulate intermittency, enable peak shaving and increase grid reliability.