First Solar Completes Large-Scale Solar Project

BOULDER CITY, Nev. — First Solar announced this week that it has completed construction on what it says is America’s largest solar photovoltaic plant, a the 48-megawatt Copper Mountain Solar facility in Boulder City, Nevada.

 

First Solar supplied solar panels and engineering, procurement and construction services to the plant on behalf of Sempra Generation, San Diego Gas & Electric’s sister company.

 

The facility, which consists of 775,000 photovoltaic panels on a 380-acre site southeast of Las Vegas, will generate enough electricity to power 14,000 residences.

 

The project is part of Sempra Generation’s plan to install more than 1,000 megawatts of solar capacity in the American Southwest.

 

Power from the Copper Mountain facility and from Sempra’s adjacent 10 megawatt El Dorado Solar plant, is being sold to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) under separate 20-year power purchase agreements.

 

The facilities will allow PG&E to meet state requirements to supply 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by the end of 2010 and 33 percent by 2020.

 

Sempra said it will also begin construction next year on the first phase of a 600 megawatt solar plant in Arizona, and has secured permission to build a 200 megawatt solar facility in Kern County, California.