Cotton Center Solar Station

In Gila Bend, Arizona McCarthy oversaw an 18MW facility installation of 93,000 single-axis mounted silicon photovoltaic (PV) panel system designed to track the sun across the sky on 145 acres. The tracking PV panels were constructed in 1,662 rows, which increases the energy yield by over 15%, and the project is expected to fulfill the needs of more than 4,000 APS customers. The design reduced material and labor requirements for APS, and is currently out-performing the model engineered design and producing more energy more efficiently.

The Cotton Center Solar Station was the first project to be commissioned under the APS Sun program, paving the way to expand the use and acceptance of photovoltaic technology by other utilities. The project was completed in just over nine months, one month ahead of schedule.