It may be wintertime but the sun still shines bright at Nellis Air Force Base, where a new $100 million, 14-megawatt solar power plant went into service on Dec. 17.

The photovoltaic system will provide nearly one-third of the 12,000-employee base’s total electrical needs during summer months for a $1 million annual cost savings. It will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 24,000 tons annually, which is equivalent to removing 185,000 cars from the roadways.

“Nellis is now home to the largest solar electric plant in all of North America,” said Col. Michael Bartley, 99th Air Base Wing commander. “Our base and indeed our entire nation will benefit from the predictable, secure supply of clean energy that this landmark power plant is now generating.” The solar array is atop a 140-acre sanitary landfill on the 14,000-acre base’s west side.

The project, which was planned over three years and under construction since April, is a public-private joint-venture involving the Air Force, PowerLight, a unit of San Jose, Calif.-based SunPower Corp., Nevada Power Co., a unit of Sierra Pacific Resources, Reno, and MWA Renewable Ventures LLC, San Francisco, a unit of Municipal Mortgage & Equity LLC.

PowerLight is the project’s developer, designer, contractor and operator.

The “Solar Star” plant consists of 72,000 of SunPower’s proprietary A-300 photovoltaic monocrystalline wafer panels containing nearly 6 million solar cells. The panels, each rated with a 3.1-watt power value, place metal contacts needed to collect and conduct electricity on the cell backsides. This eliminates reflectivity, thereby creating a uniformly black front surface for enhanced sunlight absorption.

The project also uses PowerLight’s PowerTracker technology, consisting of 5,179 single-axis mechanisms that rotate photovoltaic panels throughout the day to follow the sunlight. There will be one tracker per about every 12 panels, each powered by a 1/2-horsepower motor. The facility, as a result, will achieve a 25 percent conversion rate, which is about 10 percent higher than the industry average, PowerLight’s CEO Thomas Werner claims.

“There are many silicon products that now get a 20 percent efficiency rating. It’s not that uncommon anymore,” said George Douglas, spokesman for the National Renewable Laboratory of Golden, Colo. “Things have improved in terms of conversion rates.”

The military installation in the northeast valley now spends about $10 million annually on energy, including electricity, natural gas, gasoline and diesel. Electricity is the largest part of that tab, accounting for 70 percent of expenses. The Air Force base now pays an annual average of 8 cents per kilowatt hour.

If Solar Star generates the 25 million kilowatt hours annually as projected, it would equate to savings of about 4 cents per kilowatt hour, a Nevada Power representative said.

MMA Renewable Ventures secured the project financing and owns and operates the plant, selling power back to Nellis under a 20-year power-purchase agreement.

The facility has a 20-year renewable ground lease, with room to expand by 25 percent in the future, says Howard Wegner, PowerLight’s executive vice president.

The plant helps fulfill Nevada Power’s renewable energy requirements. State Assembly Bill 431 enacted in 2003 and AB3 in 2005 requires up to 20 percent of Nevada’s power to come from a renewable resource by 2015 with roughly 5 percent originating from solar power.

“This solar project at Nellis is a first step of many toward making renewable electricity integral to the operations of the U.S. Air Force,” said William Anderson, assistant secretary of U.S. Air Force Installations, Environment and Logistics.

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