South Carolina has activated its largest solar tracker, a 53-foot-tall structure encompassing 1,614-square-feet that rotates to collect the sun's strongest rays and send them into a warehouse, according to published reports.

"Just the sheer size of having that panel on one pole is amazing," Erika Myers, renewable energy programs manager with the S.C. Energy Office, told the Sun News. One of her responsibilities is monitoring individual solar panel projects throughout the state.

The warehouse is operated by IMO USA Corp, a German company that recently opened a manufacturing plant in Summerville, South Carolina. Dorchester County not only hosts the plant but also the solar tracker capable of powering 40 percent of the 44,800-square-foot building's operations for the next 25 years, which is projected life of the tracker.

Acquired with assistance from a $150,000 grant from the South Carolina Clean Green Energy Incentive Program, the solar tracker will spare IMO 42,000 kilowatt hours annually.

The tracker's panel has the capability of rotating, which enables it to follow the sun's daytime trajectory. That attribute also enables it to harness as much as 30 percent more sunlight than immobile panels.