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North Carolina Ranks Third In Solar Power

North Carolina continues to gain ground in the use of solar power, more than doubling its solar capacity in 2015.

In fact, the state had its best year ever for new solar construction, easily surpassing New Jersey for third place.

North Carolina had a cumulative total of 2,087 megawatts worth of installed solar on its electrical grid. That's just behind second-place Arizona.

The Charlotte Business Journal reports the Tar Heel State is ninth in the nation for solar jobs, with nearly 6,000 people working in the industry.

Expectations are high for next year, when a number of projects – which remain grandfathered into a now-defunct tax credit – come online.

California remains the nation's solar powerhouse, with over 75,000 megawatts on its grid.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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