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Large Commercial Solar Plant Inaugurated In Hawaii

Located just a few miles from the shores of the Pacific Ocean, the BioReal PV plant in Kihei, Hawaii, takes advantage of the area’s ample sunshine to help local utility Maui Electric Co. (MECO) meet its aggressive renewable energy sourcing goals.

The 568 kW installation was dedicated in mid-November 2012. MECO, which aims to reach 40% renewable energy by 2030, will purchase all of the electricity generated through a 20-year contract signed with system owner Flyers Energy LLC.

Pacific Power Renewables (PPR), a self-described PV utility company with a local office on Maui, designed and installed the BioReal project and will perform all operations and maintenance. Flyers Energy LLC is the current system owner.

Fremont, Calif.-based Solaria provided its low-concentration silicon modules, which were mounted on PPR’s proprietary SunViper horizontal single-axis trackers.

“Using less silicon, Solaria doubles the output of the solar module by concentrating and multiplying the sun’s light,” says Dan Shugar, CEO of Solaria.

The modules are especially suitable for installations that utilize trackers, whether horizontal, dual-axis or azimuth, he adds. For this project, the trackers were put in the ground with a rotational range of +/-60 degrees around the torque tube in order to produce the maximum amount of power possible.

Two 250 kW inverters provide power conversion and link the project to the grid. “The 22-acre site had all the infrastructure on-site, including a large radial from a substation less than a mile away,” notes David Dwelle, president of PPR.

“The site was level but was mostly lava rock, which required ballasted stanchions above-ground on the trackers,” he adds. Construction progressed without a hitch; the longest lead time involved waiting for a new 750 kVA transformer that MECO required in order to complete the electrical infrastructure upgrade.

Financing proved to be similarly straightforward. Flyers Energy utilized Hawaii’s feed-in tariff program to help finance construction, and federal and state-level tax credits rounded out the financing package.

BioReal currently ranks as the largest solar power plant on Maui, according to Dwelle. S

– Jessica Lillian

 

EPE, Element Power
Enter Solar PPA

El Paso Electric (EPE) and Element Power have executed a power purchase agreement (PPA) covering the total output from Element Power’s Macho Springs solar project, a 50 MW solar photovoltaic power plant under development near Deming, N.M., on land leased from the New Mexico State Land Office.

EPE selected Element Power’s Macho Springs farm from a competitive, all-sources power request for proposals. The project’s output will provide electricity to EPE’s customers at a competitive rate and will enhance EPE’s increasing renewable energy portfolio, the utility says.

The PPA is subject to approval by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. The project is expected to start construction in 2013 and be completed in 2014.

 

SolarReserve Consortium
Closes Funding

A consortium consisting of SolarReserve, a U.S. developer of utility-scale solar power projects; the Kensani Group, an empowerment investment and financial advisory player in South Africa; and Intikon Energy, a South African developer of renewable energy projects, has closed financing for two 75 MW solar photovoltaic projects in South Africa.

The Letsatsi project and the Lesedi project are located in the Free State and the Northern Cape, respectively. The projects were selected by the South Africa Department of Energy in the first round of bids under the South Africa Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program.

 

Nanosolar Completes
Solar Farm

Nanosolar Inc. says its largest solar photovoltaic installation to date has now been completed. The project, a 10.63 MW installation in Alfarrasi, Spain, was developed by Smartenergy Invest AG and Advanta Capital Ltd.

According to Nanosolar, the project is now the region’s largest PV power plant to date. It will be capable of producing 16,500 MWh per year. Valfortec SL, based in Castellon, Spain, served as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

 

EDF Commissions
115 MW Project

EDF Energies Nouvelles has inaugurated the 115 MW Toul-Rosieres solar power plant in the Lorraine region of eastern France. The project involved decontamination and conversion of a former military base.

The plant is equipped with approximately 1.4 million thin-film photovoltaic panels manufactured by First Solar. As part of site clean-up work, asbestos was removed from 170 buildings, 280 buildings were demolished, oil tanks and several kilometers of networks were emptied, and 8,000 tons of polluted soil were cleared.

Initiated in 2009, the power plant project was developed and built by EDF EN France and has been commissioned gradually since May 2012. Operations and maintenance are managed by EDF EN Services, a subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles.

 

135 kW Array
Online In Atlanta

Alpine Power Systems has completed a 135 kW commercial flat-roof PV system in Atlanta. The project, which was installed at the headquarters of Serrmi Products Inc., features 540 monocrystalline Powertec Plus modules from Mage Solar. It was funded through a financing program established between Mage Solar and CIT Vendor Finance.

According to Mage Solar, the system is expected to produce more than 240,000 kWh of power annually.

 

Array Technologies
Wins Supply Deal

Array Technologies Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of solar tracking systems and related products, has been selected to supply its DuraTrack horizontal, single-axis solar trackers for an unspecified utility-scale solar project in California’s Imperial Valley region.

The plant will have an installed capacity of 268 MW. It received full notice to proceed earlier this month and will be interconnected to the San Diego Gas & Electric grid as a Qualified Facility for a Large Generator Interconnection Agreement under California Independent System Operator Corporation jurisdiction.

 

Isofoton Planning
50 MW In Ecuador

Spain-based Isofoton has entered into an agreement with the National Electricity Council of Ecuador (CONELEC) to construct a 50 MW photovoltaic plant in Ecuador.

According to Isofoton, the project is the first and only to date to obtain planning permission in the current system of premiums on the feed-in tariff in the country. The solar facility will be in the parish of Calderon, 10 km from Quito. The construction phase will employ 500 people.

The CONELEC agreement authorizes the plant’s construction and operation and guarantees that the state will buy power according to conditions established by the feed-in tariff.

 

ET Solar Supplying
2.3 MW Solar Plant

ET Solar Group Corp. has signed a supply agreement to provide more than 7,600 of its 300 W PV modules to a 2.3 MW project in Colorado.

The PV plant, located north of Denver, will be built as a 1,000 V system. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The project is being designed and built by Samuel Engineering Inc. of Greenwood Village, Colo.

 

Maricopa County
Approves Crossroads

SolarReserve says it has received its special use permit by unanimous decision from the Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County, Ariz., for its Crossroads solar project. The approval includes 150 MW of electrical generating capacity using SolarReserve’s concentrating solar power technology and 65 MW of additional solar photovoltaic technology.

This final approval follows two previous unanimously approved Certificates of Environmental Compatibility from the Arizona Corporation Commission in February 2011 and a successful Major Comprehensive Plan Amendment by Maricopa County in December 2010, SolarReserve notes.

 

SolarCity Enters
924 kW Deal

California’s Woodland Joint Unified School District and SolarCity have entered into an agreement for SolarCity to install more than 3,900 solar panels at four district schools.

The district incurred no up-front costs for the project and is expected to save more than $70,000 in the systems’ first year of operation, and more than $910,000 over their lifetime, according to SolarCity.

PV arrays totaling 924 kW will be installed at Freeman, Plainfield and Zamora Elementary Schools, as well as at Pioneer High School. The school district has signed 20-year power purchase agreements for the projects. S