Major Solar Field Coming To Northern Cochise County

solar

A 120-acre solar field able to power 2,800 homes per day is in the final planning stages on land north of Willcox, Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC) announced last week.

The property along Ranch House Road lies near the former EuroFresh / NatureSweet greenhouse complex in an area identified by a University of Arizona study as an optimal location for such a project, according to Daniel Wilson, SSVEC’s director of engineering.

Construction of the 20-megawatt field will begin next year with panels which track the sun and will stand up to 12 feet tall depending on the time of the day, Wilson said. The system will go online late next year and significantly increase SSVEC’s utilization of renewable energy.

SSVEC’s first solar field went online in December 2016 with more than 53,000 solar panels providing 20-megawatts of electricity. The next year the not-for-profit company began receiving an extra two-megawatts from a solar field owned by Arizona Electric Power Cooperative.

The Arizona Corporation Commission mandated that 7.5 percent of SSVEC’s electricity supply must originate from renewable energy by 2025. In 2012, the company exceeded that goal -13 years early- and the new solar field will get SSVEC to 12 percent when it goes online, Wilson noted.

Despite Cochise County’s reputation for strong winds in some area, Wilson said wind energy resource options “are limited.” Thus solar power represents the most cost-effective and efficient renewable technology at this time.