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US Largest Photovoltaic Central Solar Power Plant Announced - 10/11/06

Xcel Energy announced today its selection of an affiliate of SunEdison, LLC, North America’s leading solar energy service provider, to build, own and operate an 8 megawatt central solar power plant in south central Colorado. The power plant will house two solar technologies; advanced flat-plate solar panel and concentrating photovoltaic units. Both the flat-plate solar panel segment of the plant and the concentrating solar segment will be the largest of their type in the US.

Approximately 1.2 megawatts will come from concentrating photovoltaic units. The remaining approximately 6.8 megawatts of generation will be advanced flat-plate solar panel units. The plant is expected to be on line by the end of 2007. Public Service Company of Colorado will purchase the power and the Renewable Energy Credits associated with the plant.

Producing power through concentrating photovoltaic units is accomplished by concentrating sunlight into a beam of light 500-times greater than normal light. That beam is then focused on a photovoltaic cell that converts the highly concentrated light into electricity at an efficiency greater than non-concentrated cells. The solar electricity is converted from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) then sent to a power substation and fed into the power grid.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory rates the San Luis Valley as having the best solar conditions in Colorado. This central solar power plant will take advantage of those good conditions.

Generating electricity from solar power will allow Xcel Energy to provide energy in an environmentally friendly way. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, by using just 2 kilowatts of photovoltaic capacity, a person can reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions equal to driving 6,200 miles in a car. This plant will reduce CO2 emissions the equivalent of driving nearly 26.6 million miles of the equivalent of 14,000 tons.

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