Oct 30 2010
SunPower has contracted an accord with Iberdrola Renewables to formulate and construct a 30 MW solar PV power generating plant, called San Luis Valley Solar Ranch, over a 216-acre privately owned land in Alamosa County, Colorado. The construction of the plant is expected to commence at the end of this year and will get completed before the end of 2011. The solar plant construction will create around 100 new jobs.
The solar power plant will incorporate highly efficient SunPower E19 solar panels and the panels will be erected over the patented SunPower solar tracker system. The SunPower Trackers will move the solar panels in synchronization with the movement of the sun and will always be in direct contact with the sun all through the day. The solar tracker arrangement helps to harvest at least 25% more power than the static solar systems. The increased energy production during humid summer assists the utilities to meet the rising power demand in summer.
Solar System
Iberdrola Renewables, which is developing the solar ranch, invests in it to possess and manage its operations. The company has signed a long-run agreement with Xcel Energy, a local utility company, for connecting the generated electricity to the local utility power grid. The project is expected to develop employment opportunities and in turn generate additional revenue to health care, schools, shops and other services located in the county.
Howard Wenger, SunPower's utility and power plant business group President, detailed the current availability of quality solar PV technology at cost-effective prices which can be erected quickly to produce clean power. He praised Iberdrola Renewables for its decision to promote and generate clean solar power.
Source: http://www.sunpowercorp.com/