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Davidson County can expect to gain a special spot on the “green map” for being home to a farm that will harness the sun’s energy.

SunEdison is working on plans to build the nation’s largest solar farm there to generate electricity. The 100- to 200-acre farm will be filled with solar panels.

“We’re anxiously hoping they move forward with it,” said Davidson County Manager Robert Hyatt.

Unlike most power-generating facilities, the project won’t release air pollution.

Duke Energy will buy all of the energy the farm produces. A North Carolina law passed in 2007 requires Duke Energy and other utilities to get 12.5 percent of their energy from renewable sources such as the sun by 2025.

Although the farm is a private enterprise, the county has been making efforts for years to operate more sustainably and follow the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra, Hyatt said.

The county also offers many other ways to be environmentally friendly.

In 1997 the county hired a full-time recycling coordinator and established a more comprehensive recycling program, which is expanding.

The county has 11 “box sites” and a county-run landfill where residents can drop off many types of recyclables along with their regular garbage.

Residents also can drop off scrap metal, old textiles (including clothing, bedding, shoes and belts), as well as automotive and rechargeable batteries, used motor oil and motor filters.

The county contracts with the Department of Corrections at a nominal cost, and inmates sort recyclable items at the landfill.

These efforts help the county to divert material — some very toxic — from the landfill and sell many of the materials to vendors.

“For the most part, we break even or make some money,” Hyatt said.

Last year the county closed sections of the landfill and will contract with a company that will harness the methane gas emitted from rotting materials. The company converts the gas into electricity.

Hyatt said early estimates show the county could make $200,000 a year selling the gas. Also, the arrangement keeps the greenhouse gases from contributing to global warming.

“It’s the right thing to do environmentally, and it’s also the right thing to do for the county financially,” Hyatt said.

About five years ago, the county began buying vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, which burns cleaner than gasoline, and plans to replace more of the county’s fleet with natural gas or hybrid vehicles.

The county also fitted one of the library branches with solar panels to provide the building’s heating and will use that experiment to decide whether to fit more county buildings with the panels.

Davidson County is focusing on being green but also must be accountable to taxpayers, Hyatt said.

It can’t undertake cost-prohibitive projects just because they would be good for the environment.

“We really work really hard to find that balance,” he said.

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at 449-4610 or jamie.kennedy @news-record.com