Solar plant adds 1MW to Alice Springs

摘要

he 1MW Uterne solar powerstation has been built in Alice Springs. The name means "bright, sunny day" in the local Arrernte language. The project, part of the Alice Solar City program, will increase the town's solar generation capacity to 3.1MW.SunPower Corporation Australia developed and built the system. It will sell the electricity generated to the Northern Territory's Power and Water Corporation as part of a 20 year agreement.Considered the largest solar tracking facility in Australia, Uterne covers four hectares. It consists of 3048 photovoltaic panels which have an efficiency of 18.4%. The panels are arranged into arrays fitted with 254 tracker units, which follow the sun, keeping the panels at an angle of 20°. A controller determines the optimum tracking angle for the array based on time, date and location determined using the built-in GPS.