The Mesquite Solar project is a 400-

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 Jame ...

(MW _AC)

photovoltaic power plant 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- ...

in Arlington,

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, owned by Sempra Generation. The project was constructed in 3 phases using more than 2.1 million

crystalline silicon Crystalline silicon or (c-Si) Is the crystalline forms of silicon, either polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si, consisting of small crystals), or monocrystalline silicon (mono-Si, a continuous crystal). Crystalline silicon is the dominant semiconduc ...

solar panels made by

Suntech Power Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese producer of solar panels, with of annual production capacity by the end of 2011. It is headquartered in Wuxi, Jiangsu. Shunfeng International Clean Energy Limited, a HKSE listed renewable energy inv ...

Project details

Construction of Phase 1 over a 3.6 km² site adjacent the

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station The Palo Verde Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Tonopah, Arizona, in western Arizona. It is located about due west of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and it is located near the Gila River, which is dry save for the rainy sea ...

began in 2011 and was completed in January 2013.Sempra Completes first phase of Mesquite Solar Project
/ref> It has a

nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station,

of 150

s (MW) that is contracted through a 20-year

Power Purchase Agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...

(PPA) with

Pacific Gas and Electric Company 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 milli ...

(PG&E). The

EPC EPC may refer to: Government and politics * Eastern Provincial Council, in Sri Lanka * European Policy Centre, a Belgian think tank * European Political Community (1952), a former political organization proposed in 1952 * European Political Co ...

contractor was Zachry Holdings. Phase 1 cost about $600 million, is projected to generate more than 350

gigawatt-hour A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bi ...

s of electricity annually (an average of about 40 MW), and will offset roughly 200,000 tons of carbon emissions each year. MesquiteSolarOne Aug2012

Phase 2 (100MW) and Phase 3 (150MW) were both completed in December 2016.Table 6.3. New Utility Scale Generating Units by Operating Company, Plant, Month, and Year
Electric Power Monthly, U.S. Energy Information Administration, February 24, 2017 The panels are mounted on single-axis trackers to increase electricity production.

Electricity production

References

{{Solar power in the United States Solar power stations in Arizona Photovoltaic power stations in the United States Buildings and structures in Maricopa County, Arizona Sempra Energy

Project details

Electricity production

See also

References