San Luis Valley Solar Ranch

The San Luis Valley Solar Ranch is a 30 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power station in the San Luis Valley, located near the town of Mosca, Colorado. It was the largest solar facility in the state when it came online at the end of 2011. The electricity is being sold to Public Service of Colorado, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, under a 20-year power purchase agreement.[1]

San Luis Valley Solar Ranch
The power station with the San Juan Mountains in the background
CountryUnited States
LocationSan Luis Valley, Mosca, Colorado
Coordinates37°41′30″N 105°55′00″W
StatusOperational
Construction beganNovember 2010
Commission dateMarch 2012
Owner(s)Iberdrola
Operator(s)Avangrid Renewables
Solar farm
TypeFlat-panel PV
Site area220 acres (89 ha)
Power generation
Units operational110,000 SunPower
E19-series panels
Nameplate capacity30 MWAC
Capacity factor28.5% (average 2012-2021)
Annual net output74.9 GW·h, 340 MW·h/acre
A map of solar farms in the San Luis valley

Facility details

The facility occupies about 220 acres of a 320-acre plot of previous agricultural farmland, and is the third utility-scale solar project to be completed in the sunny and cool San Luis Valley. It was developed and financed, and continues to be owned and operated, by the Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola (now Avangrid in the US) which previously completed two wind energy projects in the state. The plant consists of about 110,000 SunPower E19-series panels (each rated about 320 Wp and 19% efficiency) that are mounted on single-axis trackers.[2][3][4]

Iberdrola contracted with SunPower to provide the technology and construct the facility.[5] Work at the project site began in November 2010, and included a new 150 kV transmission line to the San Luis Valley Rural Electrical Cooperative's substation. About 200 workers were employed during the construction phase. First electricity was delivered to the grid in December 2011, and the start of commercial operations was commissioned in March 2012.[2][6]

Electricity production
Generation (MW·h) of San Luis Valley Solar Ranch [6]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2011 2,605 2,605
2012 4,3204,7957,3297,4588,6939,1007,9437,3046,3196,3944,6243,261 77,540
2013 3,2234,3976,5286,7107,8537,7137,8307,4106,5896,3114,0704,100 72,734
2014 4,6805,3357,1847,2467,9278,8557,6379,6586,5495,8854,6502,887 78,493
2015 3,2774,9197,2297,6827,3598,0807,1777,5786,7205,2994,6523,804 73,776
2016 3,9165,4446,9776,9918,0428,6128,9167,3606,8196,1144,3573,694 77,242
2017 3,0634,7726,6777,3708,6899,4168,1676,8345,7276,7794,3254,440 76,257
2018 4,0304,7396,1297,4278,5599,1988,0178,0047,6935,7374,7293,424 77,687
2019 3,7873,9905,9456,9987,4508,3807,9328,0756,6666,5524,0722,968 72,817
2020 4,3165,2176,8707,7018,9058,3337,6287,5576,5505,7884,2263,419 76,510
2021 3,4774,0245,2706,2886,7937,1128,0987,5526,0783,9583,7773,275 65,702
Average Annual Production (years 2012–2021) --->74,876

See also

References
  1. "Xcel to buy power from new San Luis Valley solar project". Denver Business Journal. October 13, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  2. "San Luis Valley Solar Ranch - fact sheet" (PDF). Iberdrola Renewables. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  3. "Iberdrola to build 30 MW San Luis Valley Solar Ranch". cleanenergyauthority.com. November 12, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  4. "SunPower E19-series data sheet" (PDF). Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  5. "Xcel Energy, SunPower to complete 19 MW Solar Photovoltaic Plant". Electric Light and Power. March 17, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  6. "San Luis Valley Solar Ranch, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
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