The Agua Caliente Solar Project is a 290

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

(MW_AC)

photovoltaic power station A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...

, built in

Yuma County, Arizona Yuma County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 203,881. The county seat is Yuma. Yuma County includes the Yuma, Arizona Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county bo ...

using 5.2 million cadmium telluride modules made by the U.S.

thin-film A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many ap ...

manufacturer

First Solar First Solar, Inc. is an American manufacturer of solar panels, and a provider of utility-scale PV power plants and supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses rigid thi ...

. It was the largest solar facility in the world when the project was commissioned in April 2014.

History

39 MW was online as of December 2011 and 100 MW was completed as of April 2012. 200 MW was completed as of July 2012, and 247 MW in August 2012, when the 10th section was completed. The addition of more panels has halted until 2013, with crates of panels covered to protect them. Full power was achieved ahead of schedule in September 2013.

Project overview

In August 2011, the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

finalized a $967 million

loan guarantee A loan guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party (the guarantor) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. A guarantee can be limited or unlimited, making the guarantor liable for only a portion or all of the d ...

for the project. The project sponsor, NRG Solar, estimated the photovoltaic generation facility would fund approximately 400 construction jobs and 16 full-time operating jobs, and would become one of the largest plants of its kind in the world when completed. The power produced is being sold to

PG&E The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 millio ...

(Pacific Gas & Electric) in California in a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement. The Series 3 thin film panels use CdS/CdTe, and are rated from 77 watts to 82.5 watts each, and are mounted at a fixed tilt angle. 20,940 are connected in each array, rated at 1.26 MW_AC. 400 SMA 720CP

inverters A power inverter, inverter or invertor is a power electronic device or circuitry that changes direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). The resulting AC frequency obtained depends on the particular device employed. Inverters do the opp ...

were initially foreseen, but in the end 500 SMA 630CP are used. Installed modules total power is 410 megawatt-peak (MW_DC).

Award

In February 2012, Agua Caliente competed in the Excellence in Renewable Energy Awards and won Project of the Year Award.

Electricity production

Agua Caliente Solar Project's production is as follows, averaging 727 GW·h annual, yielding about 300 MW·h/acre. The Loan Programs Office projected annual generation, calculated using the project's and NREL Technology specific capacity factors, was of 559 GW·h. Sector estimates predicted an average production of about 626 GW·h each year.

References

External links