Antelope Valley Solar Ranch

The Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 (AVSR1) is a 230 megawatt (MW_AC) photovoltaic power plant near Lancaster within Antelope Valley, in the western Mojave Desert, Southern California. It uses cadmium telluride modules made by the US thin-film manufacturer First Solar. The project was developed by First Solar and later bought by Exelon Corporation in 2011.^[4][5][6] The solar facility was fully commissioned in April 2014.^[1]

Antelope Valley Solar Ranch
Country	United States
Location	Antelope Valley, California
Coordinates	34°46′30″N 118°25′30″W
Status	Operational
Construction began	August 2011
Commission date	April 2014 [1]
Construction cost	$1.36 billion[2] ($1.78 billion in 2023 dollars[3])
Owner	Constellation Energy
Employees	20[1]
Solar farm
Type	Flat-panel PV
Site area	2,100 acres (8.50 km2)
Power generation
Units operational	3,800,000
Nameplate capacity	230 MWAC
Capacity factor	30.5% (average 2015-2017)
Annual net output	614 GW·h, 290 MW·h/acre

Overview

In September 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a $646 million loan guarantee to support the project's construction.^[1] This loan guarantee was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.^[7] The project is expected to create 350 construction jobs and 20 permanent jobs.^[1]

On February 20, 2013, the first 100 MW_AC came online.^[8] The plant will use approximately 3.8 million solar panels,^[6] about 20% of which will be mounted on single-axis tracking racks.^[1] When fully operational, the plant is expected to generate enough energy for 75,000 homes, displacing 140,000 tons of CO₂.^[8] The power generated by AVSR1 is being purchased by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement.^[1][8]

Electricity Production

Generation (MW·h) of AV Solar Ranch One ^[9]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2014								60,933	56,929	52,593	42,933	30,309	243,697
2015	37,018	44,005	54,695	58,280	62,283	57,808	61,724	61,790	53,927	47,614	43,426	36,838	619,408
2016	32,935	46,208	53,436	55,097	62,375	61,868	64,535	61,770	56,081	46,491	41,614	31,884	614,294
2017	32,470	35,964	54,112	55,959	61,980	61,839	60,944	58,500	55,398	53,005	39,893	37,885	607,949
2018	36,279	44,379	48,604	57,764	63,414	61,891	58,385	59,406	55,420	48,906	38,405	33,382	606,235
2019	29,889	35,096	50,802	56,509	57,218	60,036	60,504	61,467	54,174	45,567	37,007	27,365	575,634
2020	39,053	45,448	41,055	51,660	59,820	57,073	60,313	53,436	45,572	44,493	39,195	33,014	570,132
2021	35,211	41,830	52,505	58,413	62,902	58,568	57,547	57,184	51,842	47,535	41,120	29,030	651,255
2022	41,120	43,984	53,269	58,266	62,542	59,217	60,502	57,296	50,528	49,547	40,547	29,569	606,387
2023	30,340	36,653	45,638	58,446	58,241	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	229,318
Average Annual Production (2015-2022)													606,412

See also

• California portal
• Renewable energy portal

• Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert
• Solar power in California
• List of photovoltaic power stations
• Renewable energy in the United States
• Renewable portfolio standard

References

1. "Exelon (Antelope Valley Solar Ranch)". US Department of Energy (DOE). Retrieved 3 July 2014.
2. "First Solar shares jump after Antelope Valley construction OKd". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2012-06-25. Retrieved 3 July 2014. Shares of First Solar Inc. soared after the biggest maker of thin-film solar panels received permission to continue construction on a $1.36-billion power project in Los Angeles County.
3. Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
4. GreenTechMedia.com, Herman K. Trabish, First Solar Cleared to Resume Construction in Antelope Valley, 19 May 2013
5. GreenTechMedia.com, Herman K. Trabish, Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One: The Solar Power Plant That Could, 5 March 2012
6. "Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One". Exelon. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
7. "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Loans - Award Summary: AV Solar Ranch 1, LLC". Recovery.gov. The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
8. "AV Solar Ranch One Solar Power Plant Achieves 100 MW Milestone". First Solar. Archived from the original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
9. "AV Solar Ranch One, Monthly". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved May 23, 2019.