Springbok Solar Farm

The Springbok Solar Farm is a 443 MW_p (350 MW_AC) photovoltaic power station in the northwestern Mojave Desert, near California City in eastern Kern County, California.^[4] The facility was developed and constructed by 8minutenergy Renewables in three phases. It is among the country's largest PV solar farms with a capacity of about 440 MW_p (350 MW_AC).^[3]

Springbok Solar Farm
Country	United States
Location	Kern County, California
Coordinates	35°14′24″N 117°57′36″W
Status	Operational (Units 1 & 2)
Construction began	2015
Commission date	May 2016 (Unit 1) Sep. 2016 (Unit 2)
Owner	8minutenergy
Solar farm
Type	Flat-panel PV
Site area	1,400 acres (567 ha)[1][2] (Units 1&2)
Power generation
Nameplate capacity	443 MWp, 350 MWAC[3]
Capacity factor	31.6% (average 2017)
Annual net output	717 GW·h, 500 MW·h/acre

Facility details

The project was developed by 8minutenergy, one of the largest independent solar power developers in the United States.^[4] The three Springbok solar facilities combined generate enough clean, renewable energy to serve more than 152,000 households. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions avoided is comparable to removing nearly 150,000 cars from the road. The power from all three projects is contracted to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.^[3]

Project units

The Springbok Solar Farm consists of 3 project units, or construction phases:

• Springbok 1 Solar Project — a 137 MW_dc (105 MW_AC) solar power station using photovoltaics.^[4] Construction on the 700 acres (280 ha) site began in 2015 and was completed in July 2016.^[1][5]
• Springbok 2 Solar Project — a 191 MW_dc (155 MW_AC) solar power station also using photovoltaics which was completed in September 2016 on an additional 700 acres.^[4][2][6]
• Springbok 3 Solar Project — a 115 MW_dc (90 MW_AC) solar power station using photovoltaics completed in July 2019.^[3][7][8]

Electricity production

Springbok Solar 1 nameplate capacities: 137 MW_dc, 105 MW_ac
annual net output: 299 GW·h (avg 2017)
capacity factor: 32.5%

Generation (MW·h) of Springbok Solar 1 ^[9]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2016							35,489	31,692	7,506	20,948	17,007	13,038	125,680
2017	11,869	13.258	24,783	26,443	33,722	36,527	33,263	30,773	28,675	26,418	16,330	17,181	299,242
Average Annual Production (years 2017)													299,000

Springbok Solar 2 nameplate capacities: 191 MW_dc, 155 MW_ac
annual net output: 418 GW·h (avg 2017)
capacity factor: 30.8%

Generation (MW·h) of Springbok Solar 2 ^[10]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2016									9,872	27,956	23,317	18,047	79,192
2017	16,565	18,502	34,587	36,904	47,062	50,976	46,421	42,946	40,019	36,869	22,790	23,977	417,618
Average Annual Production (years 2017)													418,000

See also

• California portal
• Renewable energy portal

• Beacon Solar Project
• Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert
• Solar power in California
• Solar power in the Mojave Desert — topics