Sonoran Solar Energy Project: Maricopa County Arizona Plan Approved By Feds

PHOENIX -- The federal government has approved the Sonoran Solar Energy Project, which will be built on public lands in Arizona's Maricopa County.

Bureau of Land Management officials say it's the first solar energy project approved on federal public lands in Arizona.

The 300-megawatt project is expected to provide enough energy when operating at full capacity to power 90,000 homes.

The 2,013-acre project is smaller than what was originally proposed (3,620 acres) and will use a fraction of the water (33 acre/feet a year) than originally envisioned (about 3,000 acre/feet a year).

The project site is in the Rainbow Valley east of State Route 85 and south of Buckeye. The area contains wildlife habitat and authorities say burrowing owls will be relocated to other BLM lands.

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Comments

[Genders]

09:29 PM on 01/10/2012

Why didn't they just create feed in tariffs so 90,000 homeowners would install rooftop solar?

Big solar is a mistake.

pv solar greatest advantage is distributions on rooftops, parking lots and other already used areas.

Zero land, zero grid loss, negative grid load.

But I guess the big utilities can't figure out how to profit from rooftop solar.

[mdinoregon]

09:37 PM on 01/10/2012

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/oregon-fuel-cell-maker-lands-500-million-order-with-austrian-company/2012/01/10/gIQAlGJsoP_story.html

just a link I think you will like

[Genders]

09:54 PM on 01/10/2012

Cool, I hope it works out. co generation from wastes is fantastic. Nearly 100% efficiency.

[cosmicdart]

06:07 AM on 01/07/2012

How long will it take for this project to pay for itself in terms of the money coming in through power bills as well as the savings gained through lower public health cost cuz of reduced toxins in the atmosphere? How many lives will be saved from toxic illness?

[Genders]

09:32 PM on 01/10/2012

It's way better than nukes, coal or oil.

[AmericanItalian]

01:41 PM on 12/28/2011

This all sounds well and good and I hope it works. My only questions are:

1 - where are the activists about relocating these owls?
2 - So this will use 10.75 millions of gallons of water per year (incredibly less than 10.75 billion gallons but still substantial). Did they do the math on this before going forward? This is Arizona we're talking about, a very dry state.

[cosmicdart]

06:11 AM on 01/07/2012

It seems that the Sun and fresh water is becoming more valuable than either gas or oil as an aid for producing energy.

[aicequeen36]

11:00 PM on 12/25/2011

hope it works and we have a new more efficient energy source .And i hope if it is found to be productive it will not take another 50 years to take root all over our country,and the rest of the world.

[fireofenergy]

05:32 PM on 12/24/2011

That large decrease in water suggests solar dishes, either CPV or Stirling, rather than thermal, which "does" the traditional steam turbine. The picture suggests good ol flatplate... I would suggest developing advanced machine automation for mass producing the BEST kind of solar... As of now, it is GaAs solar freznel arrays... And the same kind of automation for the BEST kind of battery (possibly the LiFePO4).
Nobody can argue against CHEAP solar (nomatter what robotic factory it comes from) because it WILL create hundreds of thousands of square miles of install jobs!

[cheesesteak wid]

04:49 PM on 12/23/2011

yeah, its this new company called Solyndra2

[Kenz300]

10:05 AM on 12/23/2011

It is time to transition to safe, clean alternative energy.

Wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels made from algae, cellulose and waste are the future.

[rsticks18]

10:05 AM on 12/27/2011

two words not affordable

[cosmicdart]

06:24 AM on 01/07/2012

But the long term cost that we don't incurre by damaging our environment and public health if we build this energy infrastructure makes it more than affordable. Short term gain at the expense of long term damage is often seen to be more affordable in the short run. Look at the hidden long term costs of doing otherwise.

[drp103]

01:47 PM on 12/22/2011

GIT_R_DUN

[l monroe]

11:37 PM on 12/21/2011

It's good to have solar power, but is there an ulterior motive building it so close to the Mexican boarder? the Sonoran desert dips deep into Mexico and there is a under utilized power station just south of the boarder. . . there is the bad lands of New Mexico that might be more secure. .

[KyDude]

07:53 AM on 12/23/2011

Sheriff Joe needs more juice to put to all the illegals.

[l monroe]

09:03 AM on 12/23/2011

na, he just wants to open a nursing home and use the illegals for unpaid labor

[shineonbluemoonk]

01:49 PM on 12/25/2011

The bad lands are probably inaccessible without destroying the natural landscape. Just my guess, but look for the cheapest short-term solution and that is usually what the politicians on both sides want.

[l monroe]

10:29 PM on 12/26/2011

not really, they are just as remote as the Sonoran desert but have less access to the Mexican boarder and cheap Unregulated (read no EPA showing discharge and fines for pollution) Mexican electricity.

[VoteThemAllOut]

10:39 PM on 12/21/2011

Sounds good - find it interesting how close the spelling is to Solyndra.

[KyDude]

07:55 AM on 12/23/2011

Can't ya just hear the typing of all those lawsuits and GOP roadblocks to be filed?

[shineonbluemoonk]

01:50 PM on 12/25/2011

Well, solar = sol + catchy "green"-sounding suffix.

[mggwa]

09:03 PM on 12/21/2011

Hooray, I think....

One small step for mankind.

[Al Walag]

07:30 PM on 12/21/2011

Another project to enrich Nancy Pelosi and her family!

[blurredmolly]

09:18 AM on 12/22/2011

in Arizona? yer kinda dopey, huh.

[shineonbluemoonk]

01:52 PM on 12/25/2011

LOL, right on, blurredmolly!

[blackwind]

06:20 PM on 12/21/2011

Now they need to look at all those square miles of rooftops in Phoenix that are doing nothing but heating the houses under them.

[bflo1959]

08:00 PM on 12/21/2011

Amen brother. Win win. Keep the houses cooler and generate power at the same time.

[lilpeg]

09:01 PM on 12/21/2011

Also all the commercial buildings, some big surfaces there. Bet there'd wind up being more than enough area to power the city.

[mggwa]

09:04 PM on 12/21/2011

The water requirement suggests it will be a thermo-electric station like Nevada Solar 1. That's just my guess, but photovoltiacs do not require water. A big solar steam engine DOES need water.