Owner/operator: Sempra Generation
The current largest photovoltaic plant in the U.S., the 48-MW Copper Mountain Solar 1, utilizes approximately 775,000 solar panels to generate emission-free electricity for about 14,000 homes without the use of water. The facility was constructed in less than a year—an unprecedented achievement for a project of this size.
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| Courtesy: Sempra Generation |
Nevada is a sparsely populated state that contains large expanses of desert dotted with sagebrush and tumbleweeds. Because the southern Nevada desert offers intense year-round sunshine, there are few places in the world better suited for solar energy development.
The ample solar resource in southern Nevada was a main reason that Sempra Generation chose to build the Copper Mountain Solar 1 plant on a 380-acre tract in Boulder City, which is about 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas (Figure 1). Additional factors that made this location optimal for solar development were expansive available land and close proximity to major transmission lines that provide access to major markets, Scott Crider, director of external affairs, Sempra Generation, told
POWER in October. (Boulder City sits between the Hoover Dam Powerplant and Las Vegas.)
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| 1. Hitting the jackpot. The 48-MW Copper Mountain Solar 1 is located in Boulder City, approximately 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The facility is currently the largest photovoltaic (PV) solar plant in the U.S. Its PV modules do not require the use of water to produce emissions-free electricity. Courtesy: Sempra Generation |
When the facility entered service in December 2010, it was the largest photovoltaic (PV) plant in the U.S. The 48-MW installation produces an estimated 100 GWh of emission-free electricity on an annual basis. The new plant is located adjacent to Sempra Generation’s 10-MW El Dorado Solar installation (a 2009 POWER Top Plant). Power generated from the project is sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under a 20-year contract.
On March 18, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, Boulder City Mayor Roger Tobler, Sempra Generation President and CEO Jeffrey W. Martin, and other dignitaries gathered to officially dedicate the new solar plant.
In his comments, Governor Sandoval praised Sempra Generation for its commitment to Nevada and for creating hundreds of local construction jobs during building of the solar facility: “This project exemplifies my goal of making Nevada into the renewable energy capital of the country. Projects of this magnitude provide hundreds of jobs and invest millions of dollars in our state.”
Copper Mountain Solar 1 was named “Solar Project of the Year” by Renewable Energy Magazine.
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