Copper Mountain Solar Facility

The Copper Mountain Solar Facility is a 552 megawatt (MWAC) solar photovoltaic power plant in Boulder City, Nevada developed by Sempra Generation. It uses approximately 9 million cadmium telluride modules made by the US thin-film manufacturer First Solar. When the first unit of the facility entered service on December 1, 2010, it was the largest photovoltaic plant in the U.S. at 58 MW. [1] [2] [3] It is co-located with the 64 MW Nevada Solar One, 150 MW Boulder Solar, and 300 MW Techren Solar projects in the Eldorado Valley, thus forming a more than 1 gigawatt (GW) solar generating complex. By comparison, generating capacity at the nearby Hoover Dam is about 2 GW.

Copper Mountain Solar Facility
Copper Mountain Solar 1 (at left)
CountryUnited States
LocationBoulder City, Nevada
Coordinates35°47′00″N 114°59′30″W
StatusOperational
Construction beganJanuary 2010
Commission dateDec 2008 - Dec 2016
Owner(s)Sempra Generation
Solar farm
TypeFlat-panel PV
Site area16.2 square kilometres (6.3 sq mi), 4000acres
Power generation
Units operational9 million First Solar panels
Nameplate capacity552 MWAC
Capacity factor28.0% (average 2017-2018)
Annual net output1,354 GW·h, 338 MW·h/acre
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons

History

Sempra Generation completed the 10 MW demonstration plant named "El Dorado Solar" near the existing El Dorado natural gas-fired power station and the Nevada Solar One concentrated solar power plant in December 2008. [4] It was the company's first bold venture into utility-scale solar generation. A 48 MW second phase named "Copper Mountain" was constructed from January to December 2010 at a cost of about $141 million.[2] [5] At its construction peak more than 350 workers were installing the 775,000 First Solar panels on the 450-acre (180 ha) site. [1][3][6]

Based on its successes with the first unit, a second 150 MW unit was approved adjacent to the site in late 2010 and a construction plan announced On August 4, 2011.[2][7] The first 92 MW phase came online in January 2013, and the 58 MW expansion phase was eventually completed in early 2015.

Construction on the third, and thus far largest, 250 MW unit began in 2013 and was completed in early 2015, with a formal dedication ceremony on 30 April 2015.[8] This unit is located about 5 km north of the prior grouping, and is capable of generating enough electricity to power about 80,000 homes.[9]

Copper Mountain Solar 4 is the fourth unit of the Copper Mountain Solar complex. Construction on the 94 MW unit, adjacent to the grouping of Units 1 and 2, commenced in 2015. It also sustained about 350 construction jobs at peak, and completed year-end 2016. In contrast to prior units, the rows of panels run north to south, with solar trackers tilting the rows from east to west in order to maximize energy production.[10]

The 250 MW Copper Mountain 5 unit is currently in the planning and approval stage of development.[11][12]

Facility unit details
Map of solar farms in the Eldorado Valley
Copper Mountain Solar Facility
Unit Capacity
MWAC		 Complete
Date		 Coordinates Owner PPA
Recipient		 PPA
Length
Unit 1
Pilot
[13]		10 MWDec 200835.78510632°N 114.99598468°W / 35.78510632; -114.99598468 (CM1 Pilot)Sempra U.S. Gas & PowerPacific Gas & Electric20yrs
Unit 1
Phase 2
[1][14]		48 MWDec 201035.77997069°N 114.99090615°W / 35.77997069; -114.99090615 (CM1 Phase2)Sempra U.S. Gas & PowerPacific Gas & Electric20yrs
Unit 2
Phase 1
[15][16]		92 MWDec 201235.78737752°N 114.96158993°W / 35.78737752; -114.96158993 (CM2 Phase1)Sempra U.S. Gas & Power & Consolidated Edison DevelopmentPacific Gas & Electric25yrs
Unit 2
Phase 2		58 MWApr 201535.80803793°N 114.96732424°W / 35.80803793; -114.96732424 (CM2 Phase2)Sempra U.S. Gas & Power & Consolidated Edison DevelopmentPacific Gas & Electric25yrs
Unit 3
[17][9]		250 MWmid-201535.88979281°N 114.95674042°W / 35.88979281; -114.95674042 (CM3)Sempra U.S. Gas & Power & Consolidated Edison DevelopmentSouthern California Public Power Authority20yrs
Unit 4
[18][19]		94 MWDec 201635.78934926°N 114.98015631°W / 35.78934926; -114.98015631 (CM4)Sempra U.S. Gas & PowerSouthern California Edison (SCE)20yrs
(2020 start)

Electricity production
Total Facility Generation
(Annual Sum from All Units Below)
YearTotal Annual MW·h
2008 826
2009 21,661
2010 50,922
2011 129,590
2012 199,689
2013 352,561
2014 503,599
2015 1,078,497
2016 1,122,818
2017 1,342,662
2018 1,364,969
Average (2017-2018) 1,353,815
Generation (MW·h) of Copper Mountain Solar 1 - CM10 subunit (10MW) [20]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2008 826 826
2009 4167272,1362,4722,8632,1022,4862,8822,3861,5731,063556 21,661
2010 2995541,3671,7462,4742,9202,2562,8452,6521,6061,529898 21,146
2011 9711,3011,6312,2752,5122,8742,1032,4691,7651,7001,041903 21,546
2012 5567261,0481,6192,3732,4512,1722,1322,4262,3561,9091,477 21,245
2013 1,1521,4121,7362,0152,1692,2081,7091,7061,6781,9511,3271,312 20,375
2014 9731,0171,4661,5451,8282,0961,8351,9952,0662,0931,7791,177 19,869
2015 9941,3941,8082,0451,8742,0641,9121,8791,7331,5301,4561,196 19,885
2016 6263,6621,1771,2411,5891,6001,8011,7571,7151,4231,3691,101 19,061
2017 8038921,5401,6961,8982,0021,9372,1282,0061,9511,2711,197 19,321
2018 93011921,5271,9062,0162,3612,0112,0341,9561,5341,199928 19,595
Generation (MW·h) of Copper Mountain Solar 1 - CM48 subunit (48MW) [21]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2010 1,6902,4123,9184,3055,3946,6705,387 29,776
2011 7,7568,0779,24910,35010,99210,6369,23110,1648,5589,1657,1476,719 108,044
2012 7,5647,4869,4149,66811,08110,6389,4229,0299,5079,1807,3206,069 106,378
2013 7,2907,9869,32010,15610,50410,1958,7698,8708,8879,3206,8637,091 105,251
2014 7,3557,1259,6339,79610,45410,1318,7849,1719,1468,9887,6725,201 103,456
2015 6,5737,8079,35910,1479,2049,6399,0529,2508,9477,9947,5496,415 101,936
2016 5,9158,3388,9338,6198,6969,6519,9639,1579,0287,9936,3295,669 98,291
2017 4,2064,6758,0688,8839,94110,48510,14311,14710,50610,2216,6586,270 101,204
2018 4,7546,0977,8099,74910,31012,07510,28510,40010,0047,8436,1314,746 100,205
Generation (MW·h) of Copper Mountain Solar 2 (150MW) [22]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2012 5,7519,41613,85714,64815,56912,825 72,066
2013 15,53216,97119,87921,46022,27622,44819,45019,40219,39720,11214,94915,059 226,935
2014 15,74215,52120,50920,72322,23922,23419,59020,14320,61420,04316,62811,000 224,986
2015 15,81322,84732,60635,63933,53335,90334,06534,14332,69629,52428,18019,300 354,249
2016 21,56128,30332,34728,76329,91435,86536,91332,99233,12429,48626,00420,358 356,633
2017 15,22616,92229,20632,15735,98837,95536,72040,35138,03237,00224,10322,699 365,361
2018 17,43522,36028,63835,75237,81044,28037,71738,14036,68928,76322,48517,406 367,474
Generation (MW·h) of Copper Mountain Solar 3 (250MW) [23]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2014 3,78911,03014,73320,02523,15330,47029,67122,417 155,288
2015 33,16545,41455,58360,85557,69761,21356,92056,16451,52844,90143,55035,437 602,427
2016 33,30449,48953,82053,38862,61762,24060,81257,12153,93047,42440,08331,626 605,854
2017 34,30634,42354,97559,30364,27464,48655,44056,39052,76854,33038,72938,337 607,761
2018 37,91342,31151,66459,51562,89764,85957,55156,24256,14048,83242,39833,544 613,866
Generation (MW·h) of Copper Mountain Solar 4 (94MW with tracking) [24]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2016 4,90314,02013,52610,530 42,979
2017 10,34911,50219,85121,85724,46125,79824,95827,42725,85125,15016,38315,428 249,015
2018 12,51816,05320,56025,66927,14631,79127,07927,38326,34120,65016,14312,496 263,829

See also

References
  1. America's Largest PV Power Plant Is Now Live (December 6, 2010), Renewable Energy World.
  2. "Copper Mountain Solar, the Largest Photovoltaic Solar Plant in the U.S." Solar Thermal Magazine. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  3. Shine, Conor (March 20, 2012). "Five things you should know about Copper Mountain Solar before President Obama's visit". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  4. "First Solar - Copper Mountain Solar 1". First Solar. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  5. Goldberg, Delen (April 3, 2011). "Questions emerge over tax breaks for solar project". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  6. "Copper Mountain Solar I". Archived from the original on 2014-01-06. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
  7. Sempra to expand Copper Mountain solar plant, Reuters, Aug 4, 201
  8. "SoCalGas Newsroom". mediaroom.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  9. "Copper Mountain Solar 3 - Sempra Renewables". semprausgp.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  10. "Copper Mountain Solar 4 - Sempra Renewables". semprausgp.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  11. Nevada Utility is Putting $2 Billion into Solar Power and Storage, Renewable Energy World, June 01, 2018
  12. Commission Approves Largest Clean Energy Investment in Nevada History, T&D World, January 08, 2019
  13. "Copper Mountain 1 facility details". Archived from the original on 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  14. "PG&E Contracts With Sempra Generation For More Solar Power" (Press release). Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). July 27, 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  15. "Copper Mountain 2 facility details". Archived from the original on 2016-06-15. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  16. "Copper Mountain Solar 2 - Sempra Renewables". semprausgp.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  17. "Copper Mountain 3 facility details". Archived from the original on 2016-06-15. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  18. "Copper Mountain 4 facility details". Archived from the original on 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  19. Copper Mountain Solar 4
  20. "CM10, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  21. "CM48, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  22. "Copper Mountain Solar 2, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  23. "Copper Mountain Solar 3, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  24. "Copper Mountain Solar 4, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
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