The California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) is a 250- megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic power plant in the Carrizo Plain, northeast of California Valley. The project is owned by NRG Energy, and SunPower is the EPC contractor and technology provider.
The project began construction in 2011, and began operation in 2012 with 22 MW completed. It will be fully operational by the end of 2013. "More than 360 workers" are on site to date. Once completed, "the California Valley Solar Ranch will power about 100,000 homes and will be one of the largest photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants in the world".
The project is being constructed on 1,966 acres (796 ha) of a 4,365-acre (1,766 ha) site of former grazing land. It is utilizing high-efficiency, crystalline PV panels designed and manufactured by SunPower. The project will include up to 88,000 SunPower solar tracking devices to hold PV panels that will track the sun across the sky. The project will deliver approximately 550 gigawatt-hours (GW·h) annually of renewable energy and will have a capacity of 250 MW. While the plant will only have a capacity factor of 25%, its power will be generated during the middle of the day, when demand for electricity — and price — is much higher than at night.
Read more about California Valley Solar Ranch: Power Purchase Agreement, Endangered Species, 33% Mandate, See Also
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