Antelope Valley Solar Ranch

The Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 (AVSR1) is a 230 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power plant near Lancaster within Antelope Valley, in the western Mojave Desert, Southern California. It uses cadmium telluride modules made by the US thin-film manufacturer First Solar. The project was developed by First Solar and later bought by Exelon Corporation in 2011.GreenTechMedia.com, Herman K. Trabish, First Solar Cleared to Resume Construction in Antelope Valley, 19 May 2013GreenTechMedia.com, Herman K. Trabish, Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One: The Solar Power Plant That Could, 5 March 2012 The solar facility was fully commissioned in April 2014.

Overview In September 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a $646 million loan guarantee to support the project's construction. This loan guarantee was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The project is expected to create 350 construction jobs and 20 permanent jobs.

On February 20, 2013, the first 100 MWAC came online. The plant will use approximately 3.8 million solar panels, about 20% of which will be mounted on single-axis tracking racks. When fully operational, the plant is expected to generate enough energy for 75,000 homes, displacing 140,000 tons of CO2 per year. The power generated by AVSR1 is being purchased by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

Electricity production

+Generation (MW·h) of AV Solar Ranch One Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total 2014 60,933 56,929 52,593 42,933 30,309 243,697 2015 37,018 44,005 54,695 58,280 62,283 57,808 61,724 61,790 53,927 47,614 43,426 36,838 619,408 2016 32,935 46,208 53,436 55,097 62,375 61,868 64,535 61,770 56,081 46,491 41,614 31,884 614,294 2017 32,470 35,964 54,112 55,959 61,980 61,839 60,944 58,500 55,398 53,005 39,893 37,885 607,949 2018 36,279 44,379 48,604 57,764 63,414 61,891 58,385 59,406 55,420 48,906 38,405 33,382 606,235 2019 29,889 35,096 50,802 56,509 57,218 60,036 60,504 61,467 54,174 45,567 37,007 27,365 575,634 2020 39,053 45,448 41,055 51,660 59,820 57,073 60,313 53,436 45,572 44,493 39,195 33,014 570,132 2021 35,211 41,830 52,505 58,413 62,902 58,568 57,547 57,184 51,842 47,535 41,120 29,030 651,2552022 41,120 43,984 53,269 58,266 62,542 59,217 60,502 57,296 50,528 49,547 40,547 29,569 606,3872023 30,340 36,653 45,638 58,446 58,241 56,274 56,437 53,035 50,982 47,963 36,838 36,879 567,726Average annual production (2015–2022) 606,412

See also

Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert Solar power in California List of photovoltaic power stations Renewable energy in the United States Renewable portfolio standard Tejon Ranch Radar Cross Section Facility

References

External links Northrop opposes solar energy project, Los Angeles Times, by Marc Lifsher and Tiffany Hsu.