Hooper Solar PV Power Plant

The Hooper Solar PV Power Plant is a 50 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power station in the San Luis Valley, located near the town of Mosca, Colorado. It was the largest solar facility in the state when it came online at the end of 2015. The electricity is being sold to Public Service of Colorado, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, under a long-term power purchase agreement.[1]

Hooper Solar PV Power Plant
CountryUnited States
LocationSan Luis Valley, Mosca, Colorado
Coordinates37°41′32″N 105°58′54″W
StatusOperational
Construction beganearly 2015
Commission dateDecember 2015
Owner(s)Total S.A.
Operator(s)SunPower
Solar farm
TypeFlat-panel PV
Site area320 acres (129 ha)
Power generation
Nameplate capacity50 MWAC
Capacity factor28.6% (average 2016-2019)
Annual net output125 GW·h, 391 MW·h/acre
A map of solar farms in the San Luis valley

Facility details

The facility occupies about 320 acres of previous agricultural farmland, and is located near several other large solar power plants in the sunny and cool San Luis Valley. It was developed and constructed by SunPower, and is owned by a subsidiary of the French company Total S.A. which is also the majority owner of SunPower.[2] The plant is built using SunPower's Oasis Power Plant System, which includes single-axis tracking, robotic panel cleaning, and real-time monitoring at the company's operations center.[3][4]

Construction began in early 2015, and employed about 150 workers. Mortenson Construction completed the site preparation and installed the array support piles and other civil structures.[5] Commercial operations began in December 2015 shortly after the delivery of first electricity to the grid.[1][2]

The facility is sited adjacent to a San Luis Valley substation and has been planned to accommodate a future 100 MW expansion.[6]

Electricity production
Generation (MW·h) of Hooper Solar PV Power Plant [2]
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2015 5,224 5,224
2016 5,1278,76711,29711,73813,72114,03514,44211,93810,9919,8727,0395,541 124,418
2017 5,0367,84510,97612,11514,28315,47913,42611,2359,41111,1457,1107,299 125,358
2018 6,6177,78110,06212,19414,05215,10113,16313,14212,6319,4197,7645,621 127,547
2019 6,4176,76210,07311,85812,62414,20013,44113,68211,29411,1026,9005,029 123,382
Average Annual Production (years 2016-2019) --->125,176

See also

References
  1. "Colorado gets massive boost in solar power capacity". Denver Business Journal. December 23, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  2. "Hooper Solar PV Power Plant, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  3. "50-Megawatt SunPower Solar Plant Now Delivering Power to Xcel Energy Customers in Colorado". sunpower.com. December 23, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  4. "SunPower gets 50-MW Colorado solar plant up and running". solarbuildermag.com. December 28, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  5. "Mortenson projects - Hooper Solar". mortenson.com. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  6. Mark Stout. "150 MW San Luis Valley Solar Farm site comes alive". linkedin.com. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
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