Greentech Lead America: SolarWorld, a fully integrated
solar manufacturer, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)
have dedicated 11.4 MW Adelanto Solar Power Plant. The solar installation is
designed and supplied by SolarWorld.
SolarWorld utilized its American-made solar panels and
proprietary racking for the Adelanto project. The project will harvest the
solar energy advantages of clean, renewable power for homes and businesses in
Los Angeles.
The project is comprised of 46,322 of SolarWorld’s
250-watt solar panels mounted on the company’s Sunfix Ground Mount
racking. The system is expected to generate 515,700 MWh of electricity over its
25-year life, the equivalent of powering 85,850 homes each for one year and
replacing 290,000 metric tons of CO2.
“The Adelanto project marks an important milestone in the
transition of LADWP’s power supply from coal power to more renewable sources of
energy. The selection of SolarWorld, a company that designs and manufacturers
complete solar systems in America according to the highest quality, safety and
environmental standards, gives us the confidence to know that this system will
reliably serve our ratepayers for decades into the future,” said Ronald O.
Nichols, general manager of LADWP.
The Adelanto project features an assortment of
domestically produced electrical components. The project’s inverters,
connectors, surge arresters, transformers, combiner boxes and switch board all
were made in the USA.
“This project showcases the role that American
engineering and manufacturing talent, throughout the entire solar supply chain,
can and should play in utility-scale solar development,” said Kevin Kilkelly,
president of SolarWorld Americas.
The Adelanto Solar Power Plant ties into a switching and
converter station at the southern terminus of LADWP’s Southern Transmission
System, which links Southern California with wind farms and the existing
Intermountain Power Project.
SolarWorld to introduce next-generation of single-axis tracker
at Intersolar North America
Recently, SolarWorld introduced the next-generation of
its single-axis tracker, Suntrac, at Intersolar North America. The new tracker
can boost a system’s electricity production by up to 21 percent while reducing
installation costs and improving mechanical reliability.