CleanBeta

World’s Largest Solar/Wind Hybrid Power Plant in Hawaii

Hawaii’s Parker Ranch is the site of the world’s largest hybried solar/wind power plant. Hawaii’s island archipelago has substantial solar and wind power potential, which reflects their favorable climatic and geographic locations. Renewable energy in Hawaii currently have comparatively small power capacity because installed photovoltaic arrays or wind turbines remain small in scale. In 1999, Parker Ranch and PowerLight colloborated on building the new structure, which will save Hawaii from the effects of burning 30,000 barrels of oil and emitting 20,000 tons of CO2.

Parker Ranch’s PV system has 209 kW of power-generating capacity under ideal sun conditions. The system array has 476 photovoltaic modules, arranged in 17 rows of 28. The arrays rotate on a single axis to track the motion of the sun, which increases the system’s energy yields by 29% more energy than a stationary array of the same size. Construction lasted about five months and has an estimated return on investment of about ten years. Other renewable energy projects in Hawaii include five wind farms, a combined photovoltaic, wind and biofuels plants.