Chevron Mining (CMI), an auxiliary company of Chevron and a segment of Chevron USA, has announced the beginning of its concentrated photovoltaic solar power production in Questa, New Mexico.
The installation is placed over the tailing site at the CMI owned molybdenum mine, establishing a new solar technology and the pragmatic use of an earlier affected land area.
Chevron Technology Ventures Questa Solar Project
The concentrator solar photovoltaic (CPV) installation at Questa solar field occupies around 20 acres of land area, incorporates CPV systems produced by Soitec and erected over 173 solar trackers each measuring 18 x 21 feet in size. The installed CPV systems will produce 1 MW of solar power, which is adequate to electrify around 300 homes in New Mexico. Under a power purchase agreement signed with the Carson Electric Cooperative power, Chevron Mining will trade the power produced from the facility with them.
The concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems erected at the site employs lenses to gather the sunlight and focus it over the thin structure of high efficiency solar cells to generate solar power. The technology is found to be suitable for areas such as New Mexico, which has a higher level of solar radiation.