USA

Arizona

Solana: The world's largest solar plant

Location: : Gila Bend, near Phoenix (Arizona).

Type of project : 280 MWe, CPS Trough Plant with storage.

Abengoa Solar has signed an agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS), the largest electric company in Arizona, to build and operate what will be the largest solar power plant in the world.

Recently, the White House announced that DOE Department of Energy has offered a conditional commitment for a $1.45 billion loan guarantee to Abengoa Solar, Inc. The loan will support the construction and start-up of Solana.

The plant will be installed about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, near Gila Bend. Solana, with 250 MW nets of power output capacity, is based on parabolic trough technology and thermal storage using molten salts. When operation starts up, the plant will have the capacity to supply clean power to 70,000 homes and will eliminate around 475,000 tons of CO ₂.

The building of Solana will also create between 1,600-1,700 new construction jobs, and operation of the plant will add another 85 permanent jobs. These construction and operating jobs will create a few thousand additional indirect jobs.


Power block	Solana trough

Watch Solana video

Solana will operate like Solnova1, with the addition of storage capacity as shown in the diagram below.

This thermal storage allows the system to send power to the grid even when the sky is overcast and allows Solana to generate elecricity even after the sun goes down.

Domestic Hot Water: Federal Correctional Institution, Phoenix, Arizona (PT1)

Solar field in operation

Type of project: 850 KW of PT1 parabolic trough collectors for supplying hot water to 1,100 prison inmates and staff.

Location: Federal Correctional Institution, Phoenix, Arizona.

This 5,479 sq. ft. (1,670 m ²) (5,183.73 sq. ft. in net surface area) (1,580 m ²) solar system made up of PT-1 collectors was designed, manufactured and installed by IST through an ESPC (Energy Savings Performance Contract) with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Contract duration is 20 years, after which the system will become the property of the federal government.

The system pumps propylene glycol antifreeze. The heat obtained in the collectors is transferred to two storage tanks with a total volume of 285.43 ft ³ (87 m ³). These two storage tanks can reach a temperature of 185 º F (85 ºC) in the summer.

The solar system has been operating since the beginning of 1999. Each year the system supplies around 1.1 million KW of electrical power to meet 70% of the prison facility’s hot water needs.

The installation received the first prize in the Regional Technology Awards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers in 2002.

Diagram of Solar DHW System at FCI Phoenix, Arizona

Cooling and heating system : University campus Cochise– Douglas, Arizona(PT1)

Type of project: 6,800 ft ² (634 m ² ) of parabolic throug which delivers both summertime cooling and wintertime heating

Location: Cochise College campus.

The Cochise campus system came online in October 2006. PT-1 solar collectors deliver both summertime cooling and wintertime heating to the Cochise College campus. It employs a 60-ton single-stage, ammonia-cycle absorption chiller sourced from Energy Concepts in Annapolis, MD to produce chilled water for air-conditioning. A 7,500-gallon (28,400 l) pressurized storage tank allows water to be stored at temperatures up to 250 F (121 C), so that heating or cooling can be delivered at any time of the day or night.

PT1 Trough

The system incorporates the first application of Abengoa Solar’s new cutting-edge control and data monitoring system. Enhanced capabilities maximize collector field performance with data access and control through Internet connectivity.