Solar Energy
Solar power is potentially the greatest energy source we have here on earth. It’s powerful; it’s renewable; it’s safe; and APS and its customers are key players in harnessing this incredible energy. 

APS Solar Generation
APS now has more than 6.55 megawatts (MW) of installed solar capacity statewide providing energy to APS customers. APS' distributed generation capacity currently comes from our solar energy facilities installed at customer locations. Below are some of the solar power plants that APS currently has in operation.

• Flagstaff: The Flagstaff solar power plant inaugurated the APS Solar Partner® Program. The Flagstaff plant is housed within the APS service yard and produces 82 kilowatts of solar energy. Built in 1997, the plant employs the use of single axis tracking technology to maximize the sun’s energy.
• Glendale: The City hosts APS' first municipal application of high-concentration photovoltaic arrays at the Glendale Municipal Airport. This technology tracks the sun’s movement and employs special lenses to concentrate the sun’s rays 250 times onto each solar cell.
• Gilbert: The 125-kW plant is adjacent to the Town’s original ground water recharge site. The one-acre site consists of 10 solar arrays, which will track the sun from east to west on a single axis. Each solar array (or series of panels) is about 150-feet long and eight-feet wide and sits relatively low to the ground.
• Prescott: APS and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University joined to construct a 190-kilo-watt (kW) plant, which feeds solar power to the electric grid. The plant uses a single axis tracking system that allows the photovoltaic arrays to track the sun through the sky. The plant was dedicated in April 2001.
• Prescott Airport Solar Plant: APS and the City of Prescott teamed to build a plant near the Prescott Airport which currently produces 3.5 MW of solar energy, our largest solar facility to date.
• Scottsdale: In 1999, the City of Scottsdale formed a unique alliance with APS in an effort to meet the need for covered parking at commercial buildings with a practical way of generating clean energy. An 8,500-square-foot parking structure covered with photovoltaic panels began generating 34 kW of solar energy at a City of Scottsdale service yard.
• Scottsdale Water Campus: APS and Scottsdale officials joined to build a single-axis tracking, photovoltaic plant atop of the City's domestic water tanks which produces 230 kW of solar energy.
• STMicro Rooftop Solar System: This system was the first solar application in Arizona installed for commercial grid-connected customers.
• Tempe: Located on the grounds of the APS Solar Test and Research Center (APS STAR Center®) in Tempe, this solar plant generates 480 kW of solar energy for use by all APS customers.
• Yuma: APS built a new solar power plant near Yuma, which will generate 100 kW of energy. The plant is located at the Yucca Power Plant and will generate enough energy to serve about 31 homes.
• Phoenix: The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) hosts a 127-kW flat panel solar plant built atop the facility's parking canopy. The facility is a partnership between ADEQ and APS that makes the facility one of the most energy efficient of all City facilities.
  

In 2006, the APS Saguaro Solar Power Plant was named Energy Project of the Year by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). This honor came on the heels of the facility being named one of the top 12 power plants in the world by Power Magazine. Located near Red Rock, Arizona, the one-megawatt plant is the first solar trough generator in the state and the first solar trough built in the United States in almost 20 years. Unlike a photovoltaic solar plant, which uses sunlight to produce electricity, a solar trough uses heat from the sun to create electricity. The sun heats oil, which is then used to drive a turbine/generator. This technology can easily be combined with a storage facility, allowing it to hold energy, and to provide electricity when needed, not just when the sun is shining. The APS Saguaro Solar Power Plant also is the first to combine solar trough technology with an Organic Rankine Cycle Power Block, typically used in geothermal and biomass applications. The block allows the plant to produce more power at lower temperatures.

In addition, as described in other sections of this report, APS has announced plans for a new 280 MW solar power plant, Solana, to be build near Gila Bend, Arizona. 

Customer Solar Programs
APS Solar Partners Rate Program
Under it's Solar Partners Rate Program, APS customers are invited to purchase 15 kilowatt-hour blocks of energy generated by the solar power plants. The cost to customers is a $2.64 per month premium. Solar Partners offers residential and business customers an affordable way to take advantage of the state’s most abundant source of renewable energy, the sun, while helping APS develop a secure energy source for our future. At year’s end, APS had more than 3,800 Solar Partners.

APS Solar Partner Incentive Program
This program offers financial incentives to customers (residential and commercial) who install qualified solar systems. Each year APS sets aside a certain amount of money to fund the Solar Partner Incentive Program. In 2007, the company set aside $10 million dollars.

For the period from 2002 through 2007, 546 customers have installed a cumulative total of 3.1 MW of grid-tied PV systems, and 379 customers have installed a cumulative total of 0.6 MW of off-grid PV systems. In addition, since 2003, APS has purchased renewable energy credits from customers who have installed solar water heating systems. Since the program started, 645 solar water heating systems have been installed offsetting an estimated equivalent of 1.6 million kWh of conventional generation.