Alternative Energy: Making A Difference in Phoenix Arizona

  Energy   Energy and Utilities   Utility   PM Network  

The Saguaro solar trough power plant in Phoenix, Arizona, USA is fairly small. It only has a 1 megawatt generating capacity—enough to provide power to about 250 to 300 customers. But it’s having a big impact in reviving a long-dormant type of solar technology.

Instead of using mirrors to generate electricity directly from sunlight, the Saguaro plant concentrates the sun’s light through a trough of mirrors to heat mineral oil within tubes, which is then used to create steam to run a turbine. Traditionally, solar trough power plants have required tens of megawatts of generating power to run massive turbines. And because of that, the technology had largely yielded to photovoltaic solar panels that can be built and installed more cost-effectively in individual households.

That’s where Phoenix-based utility Arizona Public Service (APS) saw its opportunity. Staff at the company’s research facility spotted the potential for large-scale implementations.

“Around 2001 or so we started to take a serious look at how to get solar beyond the ‘onesie twosie’ rooftop stage,” says Scott Canada, APS project manager and construction manager on the Saguaro project.

To do that, the company launched a project to combine solar trough thermal technology with organic rankine cycle (ORC) engines that require less steam. That means …

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