SOLON Collaborates with UniSource Energy Services to bring 10 MW of Solar to Kingman, Arizona
October 26, 2011
Market Watch

Flexible, Hosted Solar Installation Model Features Power Purchase Agreement from SOLON Corporation

SOLON Collaborates with UniSource Energy Services to bring 10 MW of Solar to Kingman, Arizona
Flexible, Hosted Solar Installation Model Features Power Purchase Agreement from SOLON Corporation

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct 26, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- SOLON Corporation, one of the largest providers of turnkey solar power plants in the U.S., will build a 10-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) array near Kingman, Arizona, to provide affordable renewable power to customers of UniSource Energy Services (UES).   

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Interior Dept. Anoints Solar Energy Sites
October 28, 2011
The New York Times

The Interior Department is pressing on with its efforts to channel solar energy development into the areas with the best sunshine, the fewest potential environmental disturbances and the least political resistance.

On Thursday, the department released a provisional plan with maps highlighting 285,000 acres judged to be best suited to such development in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and Colorado..

Department officials said in a telephone news conference that while solar developers would find their bureaucratic path smoother if they set their sights on these areas, they were welcome to propose others.   

Data Center Firm CyrusOne Buys Land in Arizona for Massive Buildout
October 31, 2011
Thewhir

Data center operator CyrusOne (www.cyrusone.com) announced on Monday it has purchased a 40-acre parcel of land to build a massive 1-million-square-foot data center in Chandler, Arizona, near Phoenix.

CyrusOne first unveiled its plans for the massive data center in its quarterly earnings report in August.

Once the data center is completed, it will become the largest of its kind in the country with 110 MW of power capacity, delivered from a substation to be built on the property.

The company said the new data center is "going to bewell suited for Fortune 500 companies on the West Coast that require robust data center infrastructure for mission-critical applications and want to locate it in an area that is generally considered one of the safest in the country-free from natural disasters including seismic activity, tornados, and hurricanes."   

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Iberdrola Renewables Opens Copper Crossing Solar Ranch in Arizona

November 10, 2011

Energyonline.com 

LCG, November 10, 2011--Iberdrola Renewables and its partners on Tuesday officially opened the Copper Crossing Solar Ranch, a 20-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project that began delivering power to the grid in August. Construction began in late 2010.

Salt River Project (SRP) will purchase the entire output of the project under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). The renewable energy purchased from the facility will help satisfy SRP's Sustainable Portfolio goal to serve 20 percent of its retail electricity requirements through sustainable resources by 2020. The goal was set by the SRP Board.

The Copper Crossing Solar Ranch is located in Arizona on a 144-acre site, approximately 65 miles southeast of Phoenix, that is now owned by SRP. The project was designed and built by SunPower. The facility employs over 66,000 SunPower (320W and 425W) panels and uses single axis, T0 trackers to follow the sun and increase power generation.

Could an Arizona Town Become the Solar Capital of the World?
November 16, 2011
Energy.gov

When Rick Buss left his position as city manager of Maricopa, Arizona, to become the town manager of a 2,000-person, economically struggling town called Gila Bend in 2008, some people who know him personally and professionally wondered why.

But with a firm background in both technology companies and sustainable management, Mr. Buss had a vision: "There's no reason why Gila Bend, Arizona, can't be the solar capitol of the world."

So he got to work. He brought over a young talent from Maricopa, Eric Fitzer, to serve as his right hand man. Fitzer, Buss tells me, is particularly skilled with zoning and economic development, and working together they crafted a "Solar Field Overlay Zone" (SFOZ), which greatly reduced the complications for solar companies to develop the sun-soaked fields located within the town.    

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