Published: 04.22.

2006
It's all heat and mirrors for APS
By Scott Simonson
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
If you go
What: Open house for the APS
The state's largest utility is showing off its newest
Saguaro solar power plant
solar power plant today in southern Pinal County.
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today
Arizona Public Service Co.'s new plant generates
electricity from rows of 15-foot-tall parabolic mirrors Where: Take Interstate 10 west
into Pinal County. Exit at Red
that stretch almost a quarter mile.
The plant's design called a solar trough is one Rock. After exiting, head east
and follow the signs.
of a kind in Arizona.
The parabolic mirrors help focus the sun's rays to heat oil that runs through pipes to
up to 570 degrees. The heat from the oil is used to produce steam, which spins a
turbine to produce electricity.
The $6 million plant, located at APS' Saguaro Power Plant about 30 miles north of
Tucson, began producing power in late December, said Scott Canada, APS solarproject engineer and project manager for the power plant.
It operates four or five days a week and supplies power to homes and businesses in
Red Rock, Canada said. Once all start-up issues are resolved, it will operate seven
days a week and generate 1.3 megawatts, enough to meet energy demands of about
200 homes, APS said.
APS, the state's biggest utility, serves more than 1 million customers in 11 Arizona
counties. It serves Bisbee, Douglas and Ajo, as well as sections of Pinal and
Maricopa counties
The facility is the first solar-trough power plant built in the United States since the
1980s, Canada said. Since then, technological improvements have made this type of
solar power plant easier to operate and cheaper to maintain, Canada said.
The plant was built by North Carolina-based Solargenix Energy LLC and Ormat
Technologies Inc. of Reno, Nev.
The plant's mirrors face east at sunrise and rotate slowly to track the sun as it
crosses the sky.
If you go
What: Open house for the APS Saguaro solar power plant
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today
Where: Take Interstate 10 west into Pinal County. Exit at Red Rock. After exiting,
head east and follow the signs.