Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) has made a move to further its alternative energy initiatives. The electric utility giant announced on Monday that it has committed some $500 million to a major expansion of solar power in North Carolina. The move may sound small if you consider that Duke’s market cap is almost $52 billion, but this does further the company’s and industry’s commitment to further go into solar and alternative energy.

Duke had issued requests for proposals back in February for new solar capacity. The move is aimed to help further Duke’s commitment to renewable energy and to diversify its energy portfolio.

As far as what the terms are, Duke will acquire and construct three solar facilities for a total of 128 megawatts of capacity. Duke Energy also signed power-purchase agreements with five new solar projects in the state, representing 150 MW of capacity. What stands out here is that Duke’s commitment is actually being billed as the largest solar photovoltaic facility east of the Mississippi River. The $500 million commitment includes the investment in the three facilities and the value of the five long-term power-purchase contracts.

Another two things that also stand out are that this is billed as Duke’s largest single announcement for solar power and that it is said to be a 60% increase in the amount of solar power for our North Carolina customers. In addition to these five power-purchase agreements, Duke Energy has signed 33 other agreements in North Carolina in 2014 for projects totaling 109 MW of capacity.

Duke’s 2013 Sustainability Report showed that its Duke Energy Renewables had invested $3 billion since 2007 to build utility-scale wind and solar farms in 12 states. Duke shares were trading recently at $73.30, versus a 52-week range of $65.76 to $75.13.

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