By Paul Baker, CEN Reporter

AURORA -   The recent announcement that six public and private sector entities have joined forces to develop one of the world’s largest solar test and evaluation facilities marks another major step forward for in Colorado’s quest to become a world leader in renewable energy development.

Hoping to leverage the exceptional solar resources already in existence in our state, the Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC), will be located in Aurora and bring together entities with a keen interest in advancing and accelerating the commercialization of solar technology. The participants include Abengoa Solar, the City of Aurora, the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, Midwest Research Institute, SunEdison and Xcel Energy.

“We are pleased that conceptual discussions we initiated several years ago have now become reality with the tremendous help of all our SolarTAC partners,” said Dick Kelly, chairman, president and CEO, Xcel Energy. “SolarTAC will help bring advanced, more efficient and lower cost solar technologies to market and advance our vision of a clean energy future for our customers and local communities.”

Member companies can bring their technologies to SolarTAC for testing and demonstration, particularly solar technologies at the early commercial or near-commercial stage of development. SolarTAC will also help promote better interface between technology developers and solar energy users by offering solar equipment suppliers an opportunity to show potential customers new technologies performing under actual field conditions. MRI will serve as the management and operating contractor for SolarTAC.

“Site design, engineering, and permitting for the new 74-acre SolarTAC site in Aurora has begun,” said James L. Spigarelli, president and CEO of MRI. “As renewable energy continues to play an ever-increasing role in solving the world’s energy challenges, large-scale test facilities will play a significant role in helping companies test the readiness of new solar technologies for deployment in the marketplace.

In the initial phase, SolarTac’s 74-acre site will include common areas
to be used for performance validation testing of new solar
energy system components for which the costs and results will be
shared by all SolarTAC companies, as well as custom-made,
company-specific test sites for proprietary testing by member
companies.

“This will be the best site in the country for the proving
of new technology. This campus is targeted at directly boosting
the members’ bottom line,” said Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer. “We
believe that other companies will also see the advantages they
can gain by working with the SolarTAC members on this site.”

In addition to the three founding member companies, MRI, who is
one of two entities in the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC,
that manages the U. S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., plans to recruit
about a dozen other companies to participate as founding members
in SolarTAC.

“Our objective is to provide a highly flexible, real world test
situation with dedicated, custom test sites for leading-edge
companies,” said Mike Pacheco, MRI vice president and acting
executive director for SolarTAC.

The members of SolarTAC have all agreed to partner with the
State of Colorado and the four major research institutions that
make up the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory - Colorado
State University, Colorado School of Mines, University of
Colorado - Boulder (CU), and NREL. As part of the partnership,
the Collaboratory institutions will be invited to participate in
planning SolarTAC activities and respond to Requests for
Research Proposals. Colorado’s universities and NREL will be
engaged to complement the applied testing and demonstration work
in Aurora with more fundamental scientific research at each of
the four institutions.

The SolarTAC members (excluding the City of Aurora):

Abengoa Solar (www.abengoasolar.com) develops, designs, builds
and operates in the U.S. Concentrating Solar Power (C.S.P.) and
photovoltaic power plants and installations. The company also
develops its own technology through R&D projects in
collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and NREL, among
others.

SunEdison LLC is North America’s largest solar energy services
provider and operates across a global marketplace. SunEdison
provides solar-generated energy at or below current retail
utility rates to a broad and diverse client base of commercial,
municipal and utility customers. For more information about
SunEdison, please visit www.sunedison.com.

Xcel Energy is a major U.S. electricity and natural gas company
with regulated operations in eight Western and Midwestern
states. Xcel Energy provides a comprehensive portfolio of
energy-related products and services to 3.3 million electricity
customers and 1.8 million natural gas customers through its
regulated operating companies. Company headquarters are located
in Minneapolis. More information is available at
www.xcelenergy.com.

Midwest Research Institute (MRI) is a not-for-profit scientific
research organization with 1,800 employees nationwide, performs
contract research and laboratory consulting services for clients
in government, industry, and academia. Established in 1944, MRI
is one of the nation’s leading independent research institutes
conducting research in the areas of national security and
defense, energy and environment, life sciences, food and
agriculture, and transportation safety. With headquarters in
Kansas City, For more information, visit www.mriresearch.org.

The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory is a renewable energy
research partnership among the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory and Colorado’s premier research universities -
Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and the
University of Colorado - Boulder. The Collaboratory’s research
centers provide access to four world class institutions through
a single point of contact. Nearly 50 companies, from Fortune 500
companies to clean energy startups, have already joined
Collaboratory centers. More information is available at
www.coloradocollaboratory.org.