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5.7 MW Ground-Mounted Photovoltaic Project Completed In Oregon

Featuring more than 20,000 PV modules, an aggregate 5.7 MW solar project developed through a public-private partnership is now generating electricity in a remote area of Oregon’s Lake County.

The project represents one of the largest solar generating stations in Oregon, says Brandon Quinlavan, director of solar development at Constellation, which currently owns and operates the project. Portland General Electric (PGE) purchases and receives all of the power generated at the site under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation.

Because of the PPA, PGE was not required to provide any up-front capital for project construction - and retains the project’s environmental attributes in order to meet Oregon’s renewable portfolio standard, Quinlavan notes.

PGE initially awarded the project to a co-development team comprising Obsidian Finance Group and Smart Energy Capital, following the issuance of a request for proposals. Belectric Inc. was then selected to provide engineering, procurement and construction services, as well as construction financing.

After completing permitting procedures in June 2012, Belectric began construction in July and completed the work in October - the same month that Constellation acquired the project.

Belectric selected and installed Hanwha SolarOne’s HSL-72-PA 2 modules, as well as six SMA Sunny Central 750CP 825 kW Max inverters and single-axis Dura-Track HZ trackers from Array Technologies.

“The remote location of the site required the installation of new communication and electrical service infrastructure,” notes Quinlavan. “The project team also worked with the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office to preserve Indian artifacts found on-site.”

Constellation self-financed the installation, making use of a partial grant from the Energy Trust of Oregon and a business energy tax credit from the Oregon Department of Energy.

According to Quinlavan, the Oregon project now brings Constellation’s ownership of U.S. solar projects to more than 126 MW. “The company’s solar efforts for 2013 focus on project origination and development in California, Arizona, New York and Maryland,” he adds. S

– Jessica Lillian

 

Volkswagen Factory
Inaugurates 9.5 MW

Volkswagen and Phoenix Solar have completed a 9.5 MW solar installation at Volkswagen’s manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tenn. The solar park occupies 33 acres - half of the 66-acre land parcel adjacent to the company’s manufacturing plant. It contains 33,600 solar modules from JA Solar designed to produce 13.1 GWh of electricity annually.

Unirac provided the racking system, and SMA supplied 10 central inverters. Silicon Ranch will own the solar park and sell the electricity to Volkswagen under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Phoenix Solar Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Phoenix Solar AG, provided engineering, procurement and construction services.

 

Alamo I Project
Moving Forward

OCI Solar Power says construction of Alamo I is under way in San Antonio, Texas. At 41 MW, Alamo I represents the first phase of a 400 MW solar power project delivering energy to CPS Energy, the municipal utility for the city, under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

Alamo I is scheduled to be completed by mid-year. The remaining megawatts will be built through 2016. Newest to the list of partners is Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc., which recently received a notice to proceed by OCI Solar Power on its engineering, procurement and construction agreement.

 

Swinerton Wins
EPC Contracts

Swinerton Renewable Energy has been awarded engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the 250 MW K Road Moapa solar plant. Under the first contract, Swinerton will serve as the design-build contractor for the project. In addition, a second contract was executed for Swinerton to operate and maintain the solar plant for 10 years with a performance generation guarantee.

The K Road Moapa solar project is located on the Moapa Paiutes’ tribal land 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas. It will supply power to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power under a 25-year supply contract. The company expects to break ground in June.

 

Canadian Solar
Supplies 10 MW Plant

Canadian Solar Inc. says its subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., has signed a 10 MW module supply agreement with Algonquin Power Co. (APCo).

Under the deal, the company will provide APCo with approximately 42,000 Canadian Solar CS6X modules for a utility-scale solar power project in Cornwall, Ontario. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second quarter, with the project expected to be fully operational by the fourth quarter.

 

66 MW Alpine
Project Online

NRG Energy Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary NRG Solar, has begun commercial operations for the Alpine Solar Generating Station, a 66 MW photovoltaic plant in Lancaster, Calif. The station’s electricity will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

First Solar provided EPC services for the project and supplied its thin-film modules.

 

Stellar Energy
Completes 296 kW

Stellar Energy, a large-scale solar energy project developer and systems integrator based in Rohnert Park, Calif., has completed a 296 kW solar project for ASC Profiles Inc., a manufacturer of steel roof, wall and deck building products. The new 296 kW system consists of five individual solar photovoltaic arrays at ASC Profiles’ manufacturing plant in West Sacramento, Calif.

Four of the systems are elevated carport structures, and one is a roof-mounted array. The total array area is 22,133 square feet and features 1,056 Eoplly 280 W solar modules and one Solectria SGI 266 kW inverter.

 

U.S. Army Dedicates
4.1 MW PV Project

The U.S. Army has dedicated its largest solar photovoltaic system yet, located at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Developed in coordination with the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Siemens Government Technologies Inc. and Bostonia, the 4.1 MW installation will generate approximately 10 GWh of electricity annually and provide an estimated annual savings of $930,000.

Complemented by a 375 kW solar carport, the array will supply approximately 10% of the total power used at the site. Featuring Solaria’s proprietary technology, the system is also the world’s largest low-concentration photovoltaic solar power plant, according to Solaria.

 

SunPower Completes
7.5 MW Project

The City of Phoenix’s Lake Pleasant water treatment plant is home to a new 7.5 MW solar power system designed and built by SunPower Corp.

A 6 MW ground-mounted solar array features a SunPower T0 Tracker system, while the SunPower T10 Solar Roof Tile was used for a 1.5 MW array atop a reservoir. The City of Phoenix is financing the system through a solar services agreement with SunPower. Wells Fargo owns the system, which SunPower designed, built, and will operate and maintain.

 

REC Completes
Three Systems

REC Solar and Kenyon Energy have inaugurated three solar photovoltaic systems for the Beaverton School District in Oregon.

Located at three district sites - Elmonica Elementary School, Springville K-8 School and the Health and Science School - the installations have a capacity of 299.3 kW. Kenyon Energy served as project owner, developer and financier, while REC Solar acted as engineering, procurement and construction contractor, designing and building the project.

 

PPA Approved
For Rice Project

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has voted to approve an amended power purchase agreement (PPA) for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) to buy the output from the Rice solar project, which is being developed by SolarReserve, for 25 years.

The 150 MW Rice project, to be located near Rice, Calif., will incorporate SolarReserve’s molten-salt energy storage system. A previous PPA was approved in 2010, but the company changed the project’s point of interconnection in 2011, according to documents on the CPUC’s website.

 

49ers’ New Stadium
To Include Solar

NRG Energy, the Santa Clara Stadium Authority and the San Francisco 49ers have entered into an agreement to bring solar energy to the new Santa Clara Stadium.

NRG plans to install a number of solar elements, including solar array-covered bridges, a solar canopy above the green roof on the suite tower portion of the stadium and solar panels over the training center. The arrays will have a total capacity of about 400 kW. S