Feb. 27--FLS Energy, a Black Mountain company planning to construct the largest solar energy project in the Southeast in Canton this summer, cleared the first hurdle in securing a tax incentive for the $ 7.5 million venture.

Company president Michael Shore and Brownie Newman, with FLS Energy Finance, secured approval from the Haywood County Economic Development Commission for an 80 percent property tax break for the first five years of operation.

The tax break, valued at $ 6,000 annually, next needs approval from the county's board of commissioners.

Newman requested Haywood County join the three-way partnership now involved in the 7-acre solar project. Evergreen Packaging is donating the site, which is on a closed landfill cell. Progress Energy has signed a 20-year agreement to purchase the 1 megawatt of electricity that will be produced annually -- an amount that can power 1,000 homes.

"This is bigger than anything built in this part of the country before," Newman said. "It's a great project, but a very challenging project. Using landfill property is exciting in that it brings a productive use to property without a lot of other things to do with it, but there's a lot of unique engineering issues that make it more expensive from a development standpoint."

Because investors will be repaid in five years, that will free up operation funds during the next 20 to 40 years of operations to pay the full amount of property taxes, which are estimated to be $ 8,000 annually. This amount is on top of the $ 4,287 in property taxes paid annually by Evergreen Packaging on the 115 acres at the landfill.

The technology used, solar photovoltaics, is still very expensive, but is becoming more affordable, which will help bring the technology into economic mainstream, Shore said.

The project is not anticipated to create any permanent, full-time jobs, but there will be about a dozen short-term construction jobs on site. The project is projected to be complete by July, and has an anticipated 40 to 50 year life span.

The future for solar power is bright in the Southeast, which has some of the best sunlight in the world. Germany, for instance, has light levels comparable to Alaska, which is among the worst sunlight in the nation, yet produces .5 percent of its energy needs from solar power.

"That gives you an idea of its potential," Shore said. The company has several projects under way in North Carolina, including one at the Hilton in Biltmore Park and another in cooperation with the Farm Bureau in Haywood County.