San Luis Valley Solar Ranch
The San Luis Valley Solar Ranch is a 30 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power station in the San Luis Valley, located near the town of Mosca, Colorado. It was the largest solar facility in the state when it came online at the end of 2011. The electricity is being sold to Public Service of Colorado, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
The power station with the San Juan Mountains in the background
The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately 122 miles (196 km) long and 74 miles (119 km) wide, extending from the Continental Divide on the northwest rim into New Mexico on the south. It contains 6 counties and portions of 3 others. It is an extensive high-elevation depositional basin of approximately 8,000 square miles (21,000 km2) with an average elevation of 7,664 feet (2,336 m) above sea level. The valley is a section of the Rio Grande Rift and is drained to the south by the Rio Grande, which rises in the San Juan Mountains to the west of the valley and flows south into New Mexico. The San Luis Valley has a cold desert climate but has substantial water resources from the Rio Grande and groundwater.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado sits directly west of the Sangre de Cristo Range, which is featured in the background.
Typical greasewood "chico brush" in the San Luis Closed Basin of the northern San Luis Valley in Colorado. Taken just south of the bridge over La Garita Creek on Highway 17 between Hooper and Moffat, Colorado. View is to the southeast. The Great Sand Dunes are in the background as are the Sangre De Cristo Range. Medano and Mosca Passes are the low points, the Sierra Blanca is to the right.
