World’s Largest Operational Solar PV Project, Agua Caliente, Achieves 250 Megawatts of Grid-Connected

Bloomberg Businessweek

First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) today announced that the Agua Caliente solar project has achieved a peak generating capacity of 250 megawatts (MW)AC connected to the electrical grid. The project, which is under construction in Yuma County, Ariz., is currently the world’s largest operating photovoltaic (PV) power plant and will have a generating capacity of 290 MWAC when completed.

Initial construction work at the award-winning Agua Caliente site began in the fall of 2010 and solar module installation began in June of 2011, incorporating First Solar’s latest advances in system layout and design, optimized balance-of-system components, and integrated work-flow engineering. The resulting efficiencies enabled the project to begin commercial operation just seven months later in January 2012 when it began generating 30 MW of clean electricity for the grid, and it surpassed 100 MW of grid-connected power this spring and 200 MW this summer. Construction of the project is expected to be complete on schedule in 2014.