Operating and New Solar Power Plants

The first concentrating trough-type solar power plant in the United States was built in 1988. It is the 1 mW Saguaro plant located north of Tucson, Arizona, and was built for Arizona Public Service (APS). It covers 1 km2 and has parabolic trough-shaped mirrors. 

the largest solar power plant in the United States is the 22-year-old thermal plant in California s Mojave Desert, which has a combined total capacity of 354 mW. At Kramer Junction, California, nine solar power plants, each 30 mW or larger, have been in operation for two decades. The yearly insolation in the area is 2,940 kWh/m2. Plant efficiencies range from 10 to 17%, and their capital costs range from 2,500 to 3,500 per kWp The cost of generated electricity from these plants drops as their size increases, and ranges from 10 to 17 /kWh. 

Other installations include one by a Spanish company named Acciona Energy, which recently started up a 64-mW solar thermal power plant near Boulder City in Nevada. This company is also planning two thermal solar plants in southern Spain (50 mW each) in Palma del Rio for an investment of 0.5 billion euros. 

Post-Oil Energy Technology After the Age of Fossil Fuels 

A number of new solar power plants are under construction. In 2007, First Solar signed a contract to produce 685 mW of solar collectors over 5 years for 1.28 billion, or at a unit cost of 1.87/W. This might correspond to a 3/W installed cost. Southern California Edison is erecting a 500 mW plant designed by Solel Solar Systems of Beit Shemesh, Israel. It is scheduled to start up in 2009. 

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