Single solar facility reaches 3.2 MW

SACRAMENTO, California, US, 2004-09-08 (Refocus Weekly)

An electric utility in California has dedicated new Solar PV arrays at the site of its first major solar installation, boosting output on that facility to 3.2 MW. The output from PV6 is sufficient for 2,200 homes.

The latest addition means that Sacramento Municipal Utility District has now increased its solar PV capacity to 8.3 MW. The panels are located 25 miles southeast of Sacramento, near the former Rancho Seco nuclear reactor, where SMUD installed the 1 MW PV1 system 20 years ago. Those arrays are still operating at 80% of their original performance, the utility notes.

PV1 was installed in 1984 as one of the first solar systems in the world and has grown over the past two decades to a total of 5,000 panels, most of which are mounted on sun trackers to maximize solar conversion.

The capacity of solar panels that SMUD has installed on parking structures, homes and other buildings now totals 8.3 MW and, in the past year, the utility sourced 9% of its electricity from solar, wind, biomass and small hydro. It has committed to increase that level to 10% by 2006 and 20% by 2011.

SMUD leads all U.S. utilities in its use of solar power, and has recently expanded its program from large-scale arrays to customer-owned solar systems on buildings or integrated into building materials. For PV systems of at least 30 kW, it will pay a one-time incentive of US$2.50 per watt to a maximum of$250,000.


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