Fourth Solar Plant Planned For Mohave Co.

A new solar plant is planned for Mohave County, the fourth and largest now slated to be built in Arizona's northwest corner.

The 340-megawatt plant would be built about 27 miles northwest of Kingman by Mohave Sun Power, LLC, on land it plans to buy from Las Vegas developer Jim Rhodes. The facility will use a solar-thermal design, with parabolic mirrors concentrating the sun's energy on tubes carrying oil. The heated oil is piped to a central facility to generate steam to turn generators. Some of the energy will be stored in molten salt tanks for use after dark, and a secondary heating system using oil, gas or biofuels can also keep the plant running on cloudy days.

The $2.1 billion plant will be one of the largest of its type in the world, project director Greg Bartlett said Tuesday.

Another plant using the same technology is planned south of Kingman. That 200-megawatt facility is being developed by Albiasa Solar. A Mohave County housing development called The Ranch at White Hills is building a solar facility to power its homes, and a smaller solar project is slated for the Yucca area.

"This is proof that our (Arizona's) renewable energy standard is finally bearing fruit," said Arizona Corporation Commission Chairwoman Kris Mayes.

The company looked all over the Southwest before settling on Mohave County, Bartlett said. Some of the benefits to locating the project in Mohave County, as compared to Maricopa County, included a higher elevation, the remote area, the amount of water and the ability to acquire 4,000 acres from a private landholder. The company has a lease purchase agreement with Rhodes for the property.

According to information from Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson's office, the plant will use about 1,500 to 3,000 acre-feet of water per year to wash the mirrors and generate steam. The plant intends to recycle some of the water. The company says it's well aware of the water concerns in the county and is spending a lot of time upfront on the issue, Bartlett said.

The ACC is watching the water issue carefully, Mayes said.

"It's a good deal," Johnson said of the proposed plant. "It will attract a lot of attention to the area." It will also help in the battle for solar power with Phoenix, he said.

The company has applied for a federal loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy.

If the company secures the needed permits, financing and transmission capacity, the company expects to start construction in the fourth quarter of 2010 and complete the project in the second half of 2013.

The plant will create up to 1,500 jobs during its 2.5 to 3 year construction period, and more than 100 full-time operations jobs. It will operate under the name Hualapai Valley Solar, LLC.

Apache Junction subdivision basks in solar savings

Two words seemed to be the mantra of residents on a unique street in the East Valley where everyone was drawn together by the sun. "Go green!'' shouted Colleen Hill, high-fiving a woman wearing a T-shirt that read the same, with a small green globe on the front.

Hill wasn't just spouting environmental slogans at an April 25 event centered on Earth sustainability in Apache Junction. She was living it, too.

Hill and her neighbors are the prototypes for greener living, according to officials with the Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona and Salt River Project, who celebrated on the bright day with 18 families living in homes powered by the sun.

A community of colorful dwellings topped with panels that soak up golden rays in exchange for electricity, neighbors in the Ironwood Trails subdivision were marking the completion of the final of 18 homes built by Habitat for Humanity.

It's a trend that SRP officials said they hoped would spread like wildfire in Arizona.

"We would like to see solar subdivisions all over the state,'' said SRP sustainability engineer Joel K. Dickinson. He noted that such an initiative would require developers investing in the somewhat costly technology.

Dickinson said solar panels for a home similar in size to the smaller Habitat for Humanity homes would on average cost $20,000.

Dickinson said homeowners could expect an annual savings of at least $400 each year.

SRP currently offers incentives for residential solar electric at $9,000, and federal tax incentives for solar-powered homes can be as much as $3,600, among other credits, Dickinson said.

Either way, initial savings take a back seat to helping the environment for most homeowners who install solar panels, Dickinson said. He said that's because the return on investment typically comes after about 15 years from the date of installation.

For the families living in the Habitat for Humanity-funded subdivision, the homes were built largely with their own sweat equity, Hill said.

"I think I had a hand in hammering a nail in every one of these homes,'' she said, surveying the colorful dead-end street that abuts a large, barren swath of land similar to how the street looked before there were any homes or even a street.

Habitat for Humanity officials said the homeowners had to meet income and family requirements, as well as possess jobs and the ability to pay back a 0 percent interest mortgage.

Hill said she moved into her home in 2007 at the start of the program after Habitat for Humanity purchased and built up the once large, empty lot where her home and 17 others now exist.

Hill said the savings she has experienced were immediate.

"I had a $16 bill a couple months ago, and sometimes I receive a monthly credit instead of a bill,'' Hill said, while pointing to a meter that was spinning in the reverse direction, indicating that her home by early afternoon was actually feeding the energy grid and earning her credit.

Neighbor Jose Cobian, who has four children, said his next bill was expected to cost about $20.

"Before, where we used to live, the bill was $250, $300 each month,'' he said.

I hope to see this as the future in all new home construction. Add it into the cost of buying the home ie the loan, and let's start helping our world! Great job SRP and Apache Junction!!!