Well, finally some good news for the environment! It seems like the U.S. Congress will renew the clean energy tax credit which would expire by the end of this year and if they do this they will begin the construction of what it will be the biggest solar farm in the world (currently Spain holds the record).
The solar plant will be situated in the Arizona state, at about 70 miles away of Pheonix, near Gila-Bend, and it will be named Solana which represents “a sunny place” in Spanish. Solana is the result of an agreement between Abengoa Solar and Arizona Public Service Company, and its purpose will be to produce 280 megawatts in order to power about 70,000 homes.
The solar farm will cover 1,900 acres, will create 1,500 jobs and the electricity will be generated with the help of Abengoa’s Concentrating Solar Power technology based on three different ways to concentrate solar beams - dish Stirling technology, parabolic trough technology and tower technology. If all goes well the solar power plant will be finished in 2011.
I hope the U.S. Congress will realize the importance of this project and allocate more finances for environmental research and other green concepts.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I am all for renewable energy provided it can be done on a practical, reliable basis.
280 MW from 1900 Acres of land does not exactly impress me. What about cloudy days?
What is the price tag associated with this facility?
Pbviously a step in the right direction but I think we need to make the numbers work before we start tooting our horns too much here.
February 28th, 2008 at 2:43 am
Production of solar energy should be encourage in whole world where sunlight available round the year like India.
February 28th, 2008 at 2:52 am
70,000 homes doesn’t really sound like all that many to me. Creating jobs is great though. Any word on cost to build or how many years it’ll take to pay itself off?
March 6th, 2008 at 12:29 am
[...] The Solana solar plant, 70 miles from Pheonix, near Gila Bend, Arizona, USA, will compliment the Deming plant when both begin operations in 2011. It will produce 280 megawatts of energy, provide 1,500 jobs, and cover an area of 769 hectares. The solar power facility will be the child of Abengoa Solar and Arizona Public Service Company. However, the project depends on the United States Congress to renew clean energy tax credits, which would otherwise expire at the end of 2008. (Photo: APS. Source: Newlaunches via EcoFuss.) [...]
March 28th, 2008 at 12:33 am
[...] The Solana solar plant, 70 miles from Pheonix, near Gila Bend, Arizona, USA, will compliment the Deming plant when both begin operations in 2011. It will produce 280 megawatts of energy, provide 1,500 jobs, and cover an area of 769 hectares. The solar power facility will be the child of Abengoa Solar and Arizona Public Service Company. However, the project depends on the United States Congress to renew clean energy tax credits, which would otherwise expire at the end of 2008. (Photo: APS. Source: Newlaunches via EcoFuss.) [...]
March 28th, 2008 at 12:34 am
[...] The Solana solar plant, 70 miles from Pheonix, near Gila Bend, Arizona, USA, will compliment the Deming plant when both begin operations in 2011. It will produce 280 megawatts of energy, provide 1,500 jobs, and cover an area of 769 hectares. The solar power facility will be the child of Abengoa Solar and Arizona Public Service Company. However, the project depends on the United States Congress to renew clean energy tax credits, which would otherwise expire at the end of 2008. (Photo: APS. Source: Newlaunches via EcoFuss.) [...]
March 30th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Like all new “Green” projects, it pays to look at the money trail. Abengoa could be building this in their own country(Spain) but the price of electricity isn’t worth it. They have brought it to Arizona because we pay 4 times more in the US for electricity. The array will serve 70,000 homes for 30 years at a cost of $57,142 per household. (Estimate does NOT include future price increases for electricity which could triple or even 5x in the next 30 years.) The electricity will supply homes in Arizona.
A Solar panel array to supply 1 house would cost about $20,000 and would last at least 30 years with battery upgrades along the way. This is about half the cost of a regional solar system without industrializing 1900 acres of land.
This is a great example of “Faux Green” kinda like saying it is “Green” to wash your car twice a week as long as you park it on your lawn when you do the washing.
Fake, Fake, Fake.