SunPower to build 2 solar plants for Florida Power & Light, one will be largest in US
NEW YORK (Associated Press) - SunPower Corp. said Thursday that Florida Power & Light Co. hired it to build two solar power generating plants, one of which is expected to be the largest in the U.S.
SunPower will design and build a 25-megawatt plant in DeSoto County, Fla., to be completed next year, and a 10-megawatt plant at the Kennedy Space Center, to be completed in 2010. FPL will own, operate and maintain the two plants, both of which require state regulatory approval.
The company said the “largest operating solar photovoltaic power plant in North America is currently the 14-megawatt installation located at Nellis Air Force Base in Nev., also built by SunPower.”
A one-megawatt plant running continuously at full capacity can power 778 households each year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Solar technology has lower capacity since its power generation is constrained by availability of the sun.
SunPower is majority owned by Cypress Semiconductor Corp. Florida Power & Light is a unit of FPL Group Inc.
Loading ...
interesting site i`ve learned a lot.
There’s two types of solar power generation technologies…photovoltaic which costs 25 to 40 cents a Kwh, 4 to 5 times the cost of conventional electricity.
Then there’s solar thermal, that uses mirrors reflecting on a steam generator which costs 15 to 17 cents a Kwh at 2+ times the cost of conventional.
Why in the world would Florida build a gigantic photovoltaic plant? Whose going to pay those rates?
Stirling Energy Systems in conjunction with utility company Southern California Edison is erecting a 500 megawatt solar thermal plant to open in 2009.
The driving force behind the demand for solar thermal power, besides global warming and fears about rising electrical prices, are state and federal laws aimed at curbing fossil fuels and coal. Our legislators don’t care about the cost.
Solar thermal plants aren’t cheap. The construction tab for building Solar One will likely run about $250 million. Solar thermal electricity will cost around 15 to 17 cents a kilowatt hour in the U.S. Residents of Las Vegas now pay around 7 cents a kilowatt hour.
With solar thermal we would at least have a power generation plant that would do us some good because it would be big enough to contribute to our energy grid. The photovoltaic system wouldn’t help us at all. Photovoltaics are WAAAaaaaay too expensive…solar thermal is a lot cheaper and produces more energy.