First Solar Installs Inaugural Panel at South America’s Largest PV Plant

First Solar ceremonially installed the first solar panel for the 141 Megawatt (MW)ac Luz del Norte Solar Power Plant. The project, located 58 kilometers north of the city of Copiapó, is expected to be complete by December 2015, and will become the largest solar plant in Latin America.

“We are working hard to address Chile’s energy deficit. Projects, such as this show that Chile is progressing towards being a clean energy producing country. This year alone, we are incorporating more than 1000 MW of new energy to our system through different non-conventional renewable energies. This is an important step towards our 2025 target of having 20 percent of our energy coming from non-conventional renewable energies,” said Michelle Bachelet, president of the Republic of Chile. “Chile is in a position to be a leader in renewable energy in the Southern Cone, and in the Atacama region we are doing so. We must continue to assume leadership, and we must work as a team to assure the effort goes forward to attract more business and leverage greater economic growth.”

“These kinds of projects are what our country needs,” said Maximo Pacheco, minister of Energy. “Northern Chile is one of the places with the highest solar radiation in the world, and therefore is the place to develop alternative renewable energy projects such as First Solar’s here in the Atacama region. We are confident what with the implementation of this technology, we will achieve the goal set in our Energy Agenda that, by 2025, 20% of the country’s energy will come from such sources.”

“This project will stand as a showcase in the region,” said Joe Kishkill, First Solar’s chief commercial officer. “We are proud to demonstrate our capability to deliver resources that help fulfill Chile’s national energy policy while bringing competitively priced clean electricity to the market.”

The project will generate power using 1.7 million of First Solar’s photovoltaic thin film modules, and will produce enough solar energy to provide electricity to over 173,962 homes, avoiding over 185,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year.

“Our arid desert opens its esplanades to collect, through this clean energy project, intense sunlight that will come to light homes and businesses in the region at a time we need to generate energy, especially clean energy,” said Maglio Ciardini, mayor of Copiapó. “Luz del Norte will help provide clean energy to the central grid.”