A news story in last Wednesday’s edition of the Clayton News-Star told of the creative way one Clayton company is making use of its limited land resources to generate additional income for itself and help consumers meet a need all at the same time.

PCX Corporation has installed a small-scale solar farm on the rooftop of their business. The model allows the company to make use of an otherwise useless resource (its roof) to generate power that can be used virtually anywhere.

Solar power, unlike the electricity we use from coal-fired plants and other so-called dirty fuels, provides a more environmentally friendly way to produce a resource we all need.

Power companies like Duke Energy haven’t entered this field entirely of their own volition. Regulations requiring them to produce a certain percentage of their electricity from clean sources has forced them to look for new sources of electricity generation.

Applications for solar farms are cropping up across the region as the power companies seek to build a network large enough to meet the regulatory goals.

And, of course, the power companies pay property owners who are willing to have the systems set up on their property.

PCX, though, took the idea a step further than the norm. Without a lot of land on which to locate a traditional solar farm, the company examined its existing resources and found a way to make the idea work.

We should be proud of them for their innovation. And we can thank them for the service they render in helping to harness the power of the sun.