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June 13, 2006
Construction Starts On Largest Solar-electric Plant
Portugal is breaking ground on the worlds single largest photovoltaic (solar cell) electricity power plant. The plant, situated in Serpa, will cost 58 million to construct. It will have a peak power rating of 11 megawatts spread out over 60 hectares.Portugal gets quite a lot of sun − not as much as Murcia or Sicily, but still a lot. According to RETScreen's database Evora (the closest inland location to Serpa in the database) gets 2.82 MWh/m2 per annum with the use of a two-axis tracking system. I did a quick calculation with RETScreen and came up with a 25.8 % capacity factor. That correlates to a annual power production of 25000 MWh. If amortized over 25 years, the facility will produce power for a rate of 0.093/kWh plus maintenance costs.
Posted by dymaxion at June 13, 2006 09:46 PM