The ABD solar farm in Asheboro, N.C., above. North Carolina is the second-largest generator of solar electricity after California. Mike Belleme for The New York Times ZEBULON, N.C. — At this century-old farm just outside Durham, symmetrical rows of shining blue solar panels have replaced the soybeans and tobacco that Tommy Vinson and his family used to grow here. It is one of many solar farms that have sprung up around North Carolina, transforming a state long battered by global offshoring into the second-largest generator of solar electricity after California. “It’s still reaping a very good harvest,” said April Vinson, who is married to Tommy. “It’s just not a traditional kind of farm.” Across North Carolina, textile factories and tobacco farms have disappeared, giving way to fields of solar panels. Preparing to install a solar project on the Vinson family’s land in Zebulon, N.C. It is one of many […]