Solar power plants starts to deliver
Spread across a Portugese hillside pasture amid olive trees, 52,000 photovoltaic modules are generating some 11MW in one of the world's largest solar power plants. This joint venture between GE Energy Financial Services, PowerLight Corp and Catavento SA could supply 8,000 homes.
The 150-acre site, at Serpa, is 200km southeast of Lisbon in one of Europe's sunniest areas. It will remain as productive farmland while the facility will save more than 30,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions compared with equivalent fossil fuel generation.
The site uses PowerLight's PowerTracker system, which the company says is the world's most widely used solar power system for large-scale power plants because of its efficiency and reliability. Its simple design requires only one drive motor per 200 kW.
The company's patented tracking technology follows the sun as it moves across the sky throughout the day, generating 35 per cent more electricity than conventional fixed-mount systems. It offers features such as an industrial controller programmed to backtrack to eliminate row-to-row solar panel shading.
GE is financing, and will own, the facility in a $75 million deal. PowerLight, a leading global solar power system provider, has designed, and will operate and maintain the power plant. Catavento, a leading Portuguese renewable energy company, developed the project and will provide management services.
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