Photovoltaic Solar technology

Photovoltaic (or PV) Solar uses thin-film or crystalline photovoltaic solar panels to convert sunlight directly into electricity without the need for process water or steam turbines. NRG owns the first commercial-scale PV Solar facility in California, a 21 megawatt (MW) facility in Blythe, located in Riverside County in southeastern California. This project utilizes thin film technology provided by First Solar, a leading supplier in thin-film solar plants.

Power from the Blythe facility is sold to Southern California Edison (SCE) under a long-term power purchase agreement, providing enough energy to serve the needs of about 6,000 local homes. The Blythe solar project is one of the first utility-scale PV projects in the nation.

The solar array consists of approximately 350,000, 2-foot-by-4-foot PV panels manufactured with First Solar’s advanced thin film semiconductor technology. First Solar’s PV systems are specifically designed to deliver clean, affordable, sustainable solar electricity on a large scale. This advanced technology produces energy even in low light conditions (dawn, dusk, cloudy days) and in high temperatures.

This solar project demonstrates leadership for California in the utility-scale solar market, providing the lowest-cost solar energy available and generating Renewable Energy Credits while displacing over 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, the equivalent of taking 2,200 cars off the road.

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology

NRG is developing a diverse portfolio of solar projects including concentrated solar power (CSP) technology. CSP uses a field of mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto thermal receivers mounted atop towers. The captured sunlight heats water to produce high-pressure steam that powers a traditional turbine generator.

CSP technology tracks the sun over the course of the day to create maximum efficiency. Using CSP technology, NRG will produce zero-emission, zero-fuel cost electricity that is coincident with peak demand.

NRG Energy is working with BrightSource Energy on the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, a 392-Megawatt CSP facility in California that will be the world’s largest when completed.  Construction has begun on the Ivanpah project and the project is expected to be fully operational by mid-2013. The project has received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for a loan guarantee and has obtained all permits and approvals from both federal and California state agencies. Electricity from Ivanpah will nearly double the amount of commercial solar thermal energy now generated in the United States. 

Learn more about Ivanpah here.