Two members of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet toured a solar energy project in Cary today to tout the expansion of the renewable energy industry.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited the project at SAS Institute headquarters in Cary. There, Southern Energy Management of Morrisville has planted one of the Southeast’s largest solar farms.

Southern Energy Management was the primary contractor for SunPower on two 1-megawatt solar arrays at SAS, according to the Department of the Interior. The project includes a 24-collector solar water heating system and a 1-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) system of 5,040 solar panels on five acres of land.

Salazar called the firm one of hundreds of cutting-edge renewable energy companies sprouting up around the country, his department said.

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