The City of Phoenix's Lake Pleasant water treatment plant is home to a new 7.5 MW solar power system designed and built by SunPower Corp. The installation is expected to generate approximately 70% of the power needs for the plant, which produces 15 billion gallons of tap water each year.
A total of 22,936 solar panels are being used to save approximately 15 GWh each year, resulting in savings of approximately $4.2 million over the next 20 years compared to conventional electricity.
A 6 MW ground-mounted solar array features a SunPower T0 Tracker system. The SunPower T10 Solar Roof Tile was used for a 1.5 MW array atop a reservoir. The City of Phoenix is financing the system through a solar services agreement with SunPower. Under terms of the agreement, Wells Fargo owns the system that SunPower designed, built, and will operate and maintain.Â
The renewable energy credits associated with the system will be transferred to Arizona Public Service (APS) in fulfillment of the state's renewable energy standard. The project was facilitated in part by APS' Renewable Energy Incentive Program, which offers financial incentives to customers that help to offset up to 40% of the costs of installing solar energy.
