San Luis Valley Solar Ranch

Photovoltaic power station in the San Luis Valley,

37°41′30″N 105°55′00″W / 37.69167°N 105.91667°W / 37.69167; -105.91667StatusOperationalConstruction beganNovember 2010Commission dateMarch 2012Owner(s)IberdrolaOperator(s)Avangrid RenewablesSolar farm TypeFlat-panel PVSite area220 acres (89 ha)Power generation Units operational110,000 SunPower
E19-series panelsNameplate capacity30 MW_ACCapacity factor28.5% (average 2012-2021)Annual net output74.9 GW·h, 340 MW·h/acre

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The San Luis Valley Solar Ranch is a 30 megawatt (MW_AC) 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]

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 W_p 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]
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2011												2,605	2,605
2012	4,320	4,795	7,329	7,458	8,693	9,100	7,943	7,304	6,319	6,394	4,624	3,261	77,540
2013	3,223	4,397	6,528	6,710	7,853	7,713	7,830	7,410	6,589	6,311	4,070	4,100	72,734
2014	4,680	5,335	7,184	7,246	7,927	8,855	7,637	9,658	6,549	5,885	4,650	2,887	78,493
2015	3,277	4,919	7,229	7,682	7,359	8,080	7,177	7,578	6,720	5,299	4,652	3,804	73,776
2016	3,916	5,444	6,977	6,991	8,042	8,612	8,916	7,360	6,819	6,114	4,357	3,694	77,242
2017	3,063	4,772	6,677	7,370	8,689	9,416	8,167	6,834	5,727	6,779	4,325	4,440	76,257
2018	4,030	4,739	6,129	7,427	8,559	9,198	8,017	8,004	7,693	5,737	4,729	3,424	77,687
2019	3,787	3,990	5,945	6,998	7,450	8,380	7,932	8,075	6,666	6,552	4,072	2,968	72,817
2020	4,316	5,217	6,870	7,701	8,905	8,333	7,628	7,557	6,550	5,788	4,226	3,419	76,510
2021	3,477	4,024	5,270	6,288	6,793	7,112	8,098	7,552	6,078	3,958	3,777	3,275	65,702
Average Annual Production (years 2012–2021):													74,876

External links

VIDEO: San Luis Solar Ranch - Operations and Maintenance Interview
San Luis Valley Solar Ranch Fact Sheet - Archived

References

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