Photovoltaic Central in Serpa

It's the biggest photovoltaic central in the world, and it's installed in Portugal, more precisely in Serpa, a town located in the south of Portugal. It has a longevity programmed to 15 years, during which it will extract long hours of sun power to produce 'clean' energy (11 megawatts of capacity), to be introduced in the country's electrical network.

This investment is worth 61 million euros and it's was designed by the portuguese company Catavento. It's main holder is General Electric and it's mantained by Powerlight.

The PV Central owns 52 thousand solar panels, which cover the 'modest' area of 32 hectares! (the total area of the central is 50 hectares)

The unit responsible in Alentejo was the first to obtain the license of establishment by the Ministry of Economy and Inovation and aims at the goal drawn by the Government to produce 150 megawatts of electricity using the sun. It's one of the most desirable goals 'per capita' in Europe. The main objective is to reach 2010 with 39% of Portugal's electricity coming from renewable energies.

From my point of view this is a place where in the hands of the right people it can be very used in the good meaning of the word, that is, it can be used to relieve Portugal of it's enourmous electrical dependence and also from the dependence of fossil fuels, of course always inside the customary standards.



:)