Solar system to get major tryout.

• Author: Korosec, Kirsten
• Position: ENERGY - Brief article

Colorado will soon be home to the largest installation of concentrating photovoltaic solar--a technology that doesn't require water to produce power, is highly efficient and uses less land. It's also a technology that has been ignored by utilities in the U.S.--that is, until now.

In August, Cogentrix Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs Group, announced it had entered into a contract with utility Xcel Energy to design and develop a 30-megawatt concentrating photovoltaic solar farm near Alamosa. Xcel signed a 20-year contract to buy power from the solar farm, which will generate electricity for about 6,500 homes.

Amonix, a California-based company that has spent 20 years honing the technology, will supply the concentrating photovoltaic--or CPV--system. The total project cost is estimated between $135 million and $150 million, and construction is expected to begin early next year, said Jet...