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  • How a large-scale photovoltaic plant is built in record time

    • Renewable energy
    Spectacular image gallery showing the step-by-step construction of a large-scale photovoltaic plant with more than a million solar panels in record time, and in the heart of the desert, no less.
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  • A solar-panel complex was completed a few months ago in the Sonoran Desert in Mexico. From a bird's-eye view, the Puerto Libertad photovoltaic plant looks like a large glass lake. Together, the panels are able to generate clean energy to power 583,000 homes, all thanks to the sun beaming down on this Mexican expanse. In doing so, this will save the planet from 925,443 tonnes of CO₂ that would have been emitted by coal-fired power plants.

    As many as 1,300 workers have been involved in making this army of renewable spearheads truly shine, and its installation has already set two records: More than one million solar panels were assembled in just two months, of which 43,080 were installed in a single day.

    With a solar capture area of 2.4 km² (equivalent to 333 professional football fields) covering a plot measuring 10 km², the Puerto Libertad photovoltaic plant is the largest renewable energy project undertaken by ACCIONA around the world to date.

    Our image gallery will show you all about the  construction of photovoltaic plant. Join us on this journey to discover how to build a photovoltaic plant step-by-step and what constitutes one of the largest solar installations in Latin America.

    • 1. LOCATION IS KEY

      Choosing the right place to install a photovoltaic plant is essential. Flat, sunny expanses are most suited to such installations. The Puerto Libertad photovoltaic plant is located in the heart of the Sonoran Desert in Mexico, just 7 km from the town of Puerto Libertad itself.

    • 2. A PHOTOVOLTAIC LAKE IN THE HEART OF THE DESERT

      The installation covers 1,000 hectares in a region where sun is highly available all year round, with ideal solar radiation values to yield maximum energy output from the installed solar panels.

    • 3. FIRST THINGS FIRST: PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

      Before commencing construction work on the photovoltaic plant, impacts as a result of implementing the project must be minimised as much as possible through intensive efforts to protect plant and animal species residing on the land where the photovoltaic plant is planned to be installed.

    • 4. MORE THAN 30,000 PLANTS PROTECTED

      At the Puerto Libertad plant, around 30,000 units of 14 various species of flora were either collected in the form of cuttings for subsequent reproduction, or were relocated in their entirety to a protected area to be replanted at a later stage.

    • 5. RELOCATING MAMMALS AND REPTILES

      Animals—mainly small mammals and reptiles—were also rescued and relocated to a safe distance away from the renewable energy project area: More than 1,000 mammals (mostly small rodents) and more than 1,400 reptiles such as lizards, chameleons, iguanas and snakes were relocated.

    • 6. PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE

      Once the engineering stage of the photovoltaic plant was completed (i.e. the project has been designed and drawn up), fieldwork began, in the heart of the desert in this case, and machinery and personnel were dispatched logistically.

    • 7. PREPARING THE LAND

      The land must firstly be levelled in order to achieve a uniform surface that facilitates infrastructure installation. Works to prepare Puerto Libertad land and lay 40 km of pathways through the photovoltaic plant were completed in five months.

    • 8. MORE THAN 165,000 STAKES INSERTED

      Once the land has been prepared, the next step is to insert the stakes. These beams will be attached the metal structures that will support the solar panels to the floor. More than 165,000 vertical pivots needed to be installed at the photovoltaic plant in Puerto Libertad.

    • 9. TRACKING THE SUN'S PATH

      All the necessary equipment for the sun-tracking system is then installed in order to optimise solar energy capture. These systems allow the panels to rotate on a horizontal axis to trace the path of the sun from dawn to dusk, like high-tech sunflowers.

    • 10. MORE THAN 1,200 KM IN STRUCTURES

      In Puerto Libertad, 20,380 solar panel support structures were constructed using 26 tonnes of steel and installed in straight lines. Each structure is 59.46 m long, so if they were placed in one straight line, they would cover a distance of 1,212 km — the same distance between Mexico City and Houston.

    • 11. ASSEMBLE 1.2 MILLION PANELS IN RECORD TIME

      Once the entire structure is prepared, it's time to assemble the photovoltaic panels, i.e. the polycrystalline silicon modules responsible for capturing clean energy from the sun. This is done at a dizzying pace. The records set at Puerto Libertad are impressive.

    • 12. IMPECCABLE COORDINATION

      ACCIONA beat competing brands at the Puerto Libertad plant. Our operators were able to assemble more than one million panels in two months, all while setting the record on 18 December of installing 43,080 modules in a single day.

    • 13. TURN SUNLIGHT INTO ELECTRICITY

      Photovoltaic cells in the solar panels are made from semiconductor materials that are able to generate an electrical current when sunlight hits them. This current is continuous, so it must be conducted to inverters that convert it into alternating current, which is what we use in our day-to-day lives.

    • 14. THE ROLE OF SUBSTATIONS

      These inverters are located in substations, which are fundamental elements of the plant. They are designed to increase the voltage of the electricity generated by the panels (by 34,500 volts) to 230,000 volts so that it can then be injected into the general grid.

    • 15. INJECT THE ENERGY INTO THE ELECTRICAL GRID

      Three substations were built at Puerto Libertad; two were intended to increase the voltage and the third was intended for connecting with the general electrical grid. They occupy an area covering five hectares, meaning that they are the largest substation complex built to date by ACCIONA's Energy Division.

    • 16. THE ALL-SEEING EYE

      Despite its vast size, the photovoltaic plant is controlled from a small post, almost like a digital brain, from which the renewable energy plant operation is monitored, including energy production levels, equipment status and solar radiation or wind speed values.

    • 17. LIVE IN THE DESERT

      Constructing a large-scale photovoltaic plant in an isolated environment, as in this instance, requires building well-equipped infrastructures to accommodate all of the people involved in the project as comfortably as possible.

    • 18. AN IMPROVISED URBAN NUCLEUS

      Puerto Libertad is a plant situated in the heart of the desert, which required constructing a residential area housing 45 rooms and a multi-purpose building equipped with dining rooms, a gym, laundry facilities and other services that made life in such an arid environment that bit easier.

    • 19. OVER A THOUSAND WORKERS

      The construction of the Puerto Libertad plant created jobs for an average of 600 people, as well as activity peaks in which as many as 1,300 employees were hired. The operational phase employs 38 people, and 70% of employees were originally from the local region.

    • 20. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE REGION

      Socio-economic impact studies conducted by ACCIONA demonstrate that the construction of the photovoltaic plant and its operation for 35 years will create a total of 2,120 direct, indirect and induced jobs, and will contribute EUR 235 million to the Mexican economy in terms of gross domestic product (GDP).

    • 21. CLEAN ENERGY FOR 583,000 HOMES

      Puerto Libertad can produce around 963 GWh of renewable energy per year, which is enough to meet the electricity demand of 583,000 homes. This production avoids the emission of 925,443 tonnes of CO₂ from coal-fired power plants into the atmosphere, which is similar to the purifying effect of more than 46 million trees.

    • 22. A SUSTAINABLE SEA OF GLASS

      Viewed from above, the Puerto Libertad plant looks like a glistening glass sea with reflections that rival those of the Pacific Ocean, which is just a stone's throw away. A sea capable of producing pollution-free energy. Clean energy to drive development without threatening the natural balance of the world we live in.

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