APS Solar Tour ’09 Spreads Word of Sun’s Power

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Showcasing the prospect of a clean energy future, APS just concluded the first-ever solar tour of Arizona, bringing the message of solar energy to enthusiastic audiences.

Dubbed the APS ’09 Solar Tour, APS visited three major venues, playing to energetic crowds yearning for an increase in clean, renewable electricity generated by Arizona’s most abundant resource: the sun. Launched in Flagstaff to an appreciative audience, the much-anticipated APS Solar Tour then headed north for a special gig at the Grand Canyon, before heading to Phoenix for a standing-room only performance at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

“It’s always special to hit the road and get to meet the people in our state who are so committed to a better, sunnier, greener and cleaner Arizona,” said tour manager Don Robinson, who also happens to be President and Chief Operating Officer of APS. “We share a common passion for renewable energy here at APS. The Tour has been a bold step in making Arizona the ‘Solar Capital of the World.’”

Highlights of the three-stop Tour included:

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Flagstaff (May 11) – The first stop on the Tour had audiences cheering the launch of The APS Community Power Project, which will offer Flagstaff customers the opportunity to join a “free” pilot solar energy program. Under the program, APS will own and receive energy from solar panels installed on about 300 customer rooftops. Participating customers will receive an attractive 20-year fixed Community Power Rate for the solar portion of their electricity bill. More important, participants will not have any up-front costs or other requirements – just a desire to support this clean, renewable energy source. In essence, APS is building an interconnected solar power plant – one rooftop at a time.


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Grand Canyon (May 18) – The second stop of the ’09 Tour brought together two of the state’s most recognizable features – the Grand Canyon and the sun. It was here that APS celebrated with an international audience (including visitors from Japan and Germany) as the Canyon’s Visitor Center went “solar.”

Eighty-four solar panels are now operational on the Center’s roof and on adjacent ground-mounted platforms. The panels provide enough energy – about 18 kilowatts (kW) – to offset 30 percent of the Center’s electricity use. Robinson said that when planning the ’09 Tour, the Grand Canyon was “a definite tour stop because of the opportunity that exists to educate more than 4.5 million Canyon visitors each year about renewable energy.”


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Phoenix (May 22) – Saving perhaps its best performance for last, the APS team played an emotional encore in what fans and critics, alike, are hailing as an environmental masterpiece.



On the final stop of the ’09 Solar Tour, APS hit the stage at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and announced the addition of a new member: Starwood Solar I. When completed in 2013, the concentrating solar plant will assume the title of world’s largest solar facility. The plant, to be built in the Harquahala Valley about 75 miles west of Phoenix, will not only generate enough electricity to power 73,000 homes, but it will have an economic impact of nearly $3 billion during its two years of construction.

“With Starwood Solar I, the 280-megawatt Solana Solar Station announced last year and our other solar projects, APS will provide more solar electricity per customer than any other utility in the country,” Robinson said.

Check out the APS ’09 Solar Tour YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/apssolartour.

And, with the combination of all three projects under the APS ’09 Solar Tour, Arizonans can prepare for a bright and clean solar future. To learn more about the tour and how to “go green,” visit APS’ Web site at www.aps.com.