Arizona, also known as the “solar capital” of the US, has tremendous solar and other renewable energy resources. Sadly, Arizona is lagging behind the rest of the region with installed renewable energy facilities of only 9 MW. However, there is a lot of room for optimism, since a passage of a renewable energy portfolio standard that is designed to accelerate developments of renewable energy in Arizona, particularly in solar energy, a number of large-scale projects have gone under way with many more to start up in the near future.
In addition to large-scale there are also thousands of small-scale solar photovoltaic projects under way across Arizona. Solar photovoltaic panels provide an economical solution to generate electricity for areas in the state that are out of reach of the main grid and help reduce peak summer time electric loads.
Regarding wind energy in Arizona, there are promising areas for large-scale wind energy developments along the eastern border. Arizonans living in rural areas have also been able to rely on small-scale wind energy generating electricity for their households. 1MW of wind power is currently online in Arizona, but there are over 75,000 acres of windy land.
Arizona still has a long way to go to fulfill its great potential for becoming a leader in renewable energy and clean energy production, at the same time the state is pushing towards new reforms to encourage these types of investments that will help provide clean energy for its 6.5 Million citizens.
