Questa Solar Facility
The Questa Solar Facility is a 1.17 MWp (1.0 MWAC) concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) power station in Questa, New Mexico. Upon its completion in late 2010, it was one of the largest CPV facilities in the world, and the first utility-scale installation of Concentrix Solar technology in the United States.[1] Annual electricity production is expected to average about 2.1 GW·h, and is being sold to the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).[2][3]
Facility details
The facility was built by Chevron Technology Ventures on a reclaimed site previously used for the collection and storage of molybdenum mine tailings.[2][3] It consists of 173 dual-axis-tracking CX-P6 systems, each of which supports 90 CX-75 CPV modules.[1] Each module contains 200 Fresnel lens to concentrate sunlight 500 times onto multijunction photovoltaic cells.[4] These features enable higher efficiencies - about 40% for cells and 27% for modules - than other photovoltaic technologies. [5]
Each of the 173 trackers has its own grid-connected inverter, which also serves as the control system of the mechanical tracking and as the communication port with its own IP address. The inverter technology was developed by Fraunhofer ISE in cooperation with Concentrix Solar and has an efficiency of 96%. For control and monitoring, the facility also includes DNI sensors, GNI sensors and wind sensors. A detailed analysis of the system and power plant performance can be made based on data that is taken at one-minute intervals.[6]
Electricity production
Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | 129 | 135 | 170 | 173 | 193 | 156 | 162 | 158 | 148 | 157 | 133 | 113 | 1,827 |
2012 | 169 | 171 | 216 | 202 | 232 | 213 | 224 | 187 | 188 | 203 | 170 | 242 | 2,417 |
2013 | 129 | 139 | 177 | 169 | 191 | 182 | 179 | 175 | 168 | 185 | 137 | 131 | 1,963 |
2014 | 93 | 90 | 112 | 108 | 202 | 448 | 372 | 365 | 329 | 349 | 264 | 215 | 2,949 |
2015 | 100 | 133 | 156 | 182 | 192 | 180 | 171 | 177 | 154 | 129 | 119 | 107 | 1,798 |
2016 | 64 | 77 | 96 | 98 | 108 | 98 | 104 | 130 | 156 | 190 | 170 | 142 | 1,433 |
2017 | 82 | 122 | 175 | 188 | 203 | 193 | 184 | 172 | 153 | 157 | 113 | 99 | 1,840 |
2018 | 101 | 119 | 154 | 186 | 215 | 231 | 201 | 201 | 193 | 144 | 119 | 86 | 1,947 |
2019 | 88 | 93 | 138 | 163 | 173 | 195 | 185 | 188 | 155 | 153 | 95 | 69 | 1,695 |
2020 | 78 | 82 | 93 | 130 | 145 | 136 | 133 | 126 | 111 | 106 | 85 | 78 | 1,302 |
Average Annual Production for years 2011-2020 ---> | 1,917 |
See also
- Alamosa Solar Generating Project
- Hatch Solar Energy Center
- Newberry Springs CPV Power Plant
- List of photovoltaic power stations
- Renewable energy in the United States
- Solar power in New Mexico
- Solar power in the United States
External links
- VIDEO: Soitec CPV Solar Power Plant near Taos, NM
- VIDEO: Chevron Builds Solar Field in New Mexico
- Field Experience Of Concentrix Solar's CPV Systems In Different Climatic Conditions
References
- ^ a b "Concentrix Solar Enters the US Market with Megawatt CPV Deployment at a Chevron Facility" (PDF). Soitec/Concentrix Solar. February 24, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- ^ a b "Chevron Starts Operations of 1 MW CPV Solar Field in Northern New Mexico". Business Wire. April 19, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- ^ a b "Case Study-New Energies: Utility-Scale Solar on a Tailing Disposal Facility - Chevron Questa Mine Superfund Site in Questa, New Mexico" (PDF). Environmental Protection Agency. July 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
- ^ Andreas Gombert (July 11, 2009). "Concentrix Solar's FLATCON technology" (PDF). Concentrix Solar. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
- ^ Gail Overton (February 1, 2010). "Optics take center stage in concentrating photovoltaic systems". Laser Focus World. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- ^ Andreas Gombert and Christophe Desrumaux (May 1, 2010). "Concentrator photovoltaics: a mature technology for solar power plants". Renewable Energy World. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- ^ "Questa Solar Facility, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- v
- t
- e
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- D.C.
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Agua Caliente
- Alamosa
- Antelope Valley
- Avenal
- Avra Valley
- Beacon
- Bison
- Blue Wing
- Blythe
- Blythe Mesa
- Boulder
- Brockton
- California Flats
- California Valley
- Campo Verde
- Catalina
- Centinela
- Cimarron
- Comanche
- Copper Mountain
- Crescent Dunes CSP
- Davidson County
- Desert Stateline
- Desert Sunlight
- DeSoto
- El Dorado
- Enterprise
- Escalante
- Genesis
- Holaniku
- Hooper
- Imperial SEC West
- Imperial SEC South
- Imperial Valley
- Ivanpah CSP
- Kimberlina
- Long Island
- Martin CSP
- McCoy
- Mesquite
- Moapa
- Mojave CSP
- Mount Signal
- Nellis
- Nevada Solar One
- Panoche Valley
- Red Hills
- Redwood
- Roserock
- San Luis Valley
- San Isabel
- Sierra SunTower
- Silver State North
- Silver State South
- Solana CSP
- SEGS
- Solar Star
- Space Coast
- Springbok
- Sunset
- Techren
- Three Cedars
- Topaz
- Webberville
- Westlands
- White House
- Wyandot
- Abengoa
- Ascent
- Ausra
- BP Solar
- BrightSource
- Canadian Solar
- Enphase Energy
- EnviroMission
- eSolar
- First Solar
- Global Solar
- GoodLeap
- Grape Solar
- Hanwha
- HelioPower
- Jinko
- Maxeon
- Miasole
- Mosaic
- Practical Solar
- Sharp
- Skyline
- SolarEdge
- Solar Frontier
- Solaren
- SolarReserve
- SoloPower
- Sopogy
- StratoSolar
- Stirling Energy Systems
- Sundog Solar
- SunEdison
- Sunetric
- Sungevity
- SunPower
- Sunrun
- Suntech
- Tesla Energy
- Trina
- Yingli
- 8minutenergy Renewables
Category
Commons