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Show I i World's largest solar plant j ! slated for Natural Bridges I William J. Wahlen, Director of I the National Park Service, has anounced that Natural Bridges National Monument in southern I Utah has been chosen as the site for the largest solar electrical generat- j ing system of its type in the world, i The photovoltaic electric gener- I ating system, designed to produce j a peak of 100 kilowatts of power directly from sunlight, is expected to become operational in mid-1979. I Energy experts estimate this could supply enough electricity for 10 to I 15 homes. I The principal purposes of the I Natural Bridges project aro to j demonstrate the feasibility of the j system and conserve fossil fuels. I The installation will essentially j replace conventional diesel-fuoled j generators now used at the national I monument. The diesel system will I remain available to supplement the J solar system during routine main- ! tenance of the new installation or I when prolonged overcast weather i depletes solar storage facilities. I On a 1.3-acre site near the I monument visitor center, the sys- tern will have about 18,000 squnre ! feet of solar collectors referred to as the "solar array." It would supply tho electrical energy for all j of the monument's facilities, in-j in-j eluding employee housing, ninin-I ninin-I tenance shops, and tho public I visitor center. I Tho Department of Energy will ! fund the major portion of the $3 million program. Using DOE funds, the Lincoln Laboratory of Mass. Institute of Technology will soon j seek bids on development and I construction of tho solar unit's j equipment. Tho Department of the Interior's National Park Service will contract separately for preparation of tho site and construction of a building to house storage batteries I for the system. I Natural Bridges National Monu- I mont, a 7,454-ncro area located J about 40 miles west of Blimding, Utah, was selected by the National I Park Service and MIT from 63 sites I considered by DOE for this project. J Among the reasons the site was ! chosen are its distance from com- mercial power sources, the high incidence of clear days in the area, j and the opportunity to locate the j facility where it would be highly I visible, yet not detract from the I values of the park in which it is J located. j It is anticipated that the 75. 000 visitors to the monument each year i will be able to closely observe the j system in operation. The three i natural sandstone bridges from I which the monument derives its ' name will not be affected by the j solar installation. Photovoltaic systems differ from i other solar energy devices in that j they produce electrical energy dir- I ectly from sunlight falling on silicon I solar colls. By contrast, solar ' thermal devices use sunlight to heat air or liquids which can then be pumped or otherwise trnnsport- i ed to specific areas requiring j heating. Industrial-type load acid batteries batter-ies will be housed in the storage building constructed by the National Park Service. These batteries bat-teries will be capable of storing enough energy to serve tho needs of tho national monument for about 30 hours without replenishment or diesel-goneruted supplement. A 25-kilowatt system funded by IX)K and operated by tho University Univers-ity of Nebraska as part of an agricultural experiment station near Mead, Nebraska, is the largest photovoltaic electrical generating system now in use. The Natural Bridges unit will have four times as much peak-generating capacity ns the Mend Unit. The Natural Bridges installation will bo a tost of the economic M)tenlial of solar energy and provide pro-vide valuable field experience of construction, operating, and maintenance main-tenance methods. I |
