In May, GCJPR coordinated with APS for the APS Solar Tour – Spring ’09, a three-stop statewide “tour” that announced the efforts APS has taken to make Arizona the solar capital of the world.

In Flagstaff APS launched the Community Power Project, a pilot program that will create an interconnected renewable power plant on rooftops through free solar panels. The proposal, filed on May 11 with the Arizona Corporation Commission, would bring solar panels to the rooftops of homes and businesses without the upfront costs that have been a deterrent for many residents looking to ‘go solar.’

In northern Arizona, APS brought together two of the state’s most recognizable features – the Grand Canyon and the sun – as the Grand Canyon National Park went solar. Eighty-four photovoltaic solar panels are now operational on and around the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, providing the building with approximately 18 kilowatts (kW) of electricity. The panels provide enough energy to offset 30 percent of the Visitor Center’s electricity use and will be seen by the more than 4.5 million people who visit the Canyon each year.

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.

At each of the three stops, GCJPR and our longtime video producers Dan and Ginny of Direct Current gathered footage for several YouTube videos. The videos have helped increase awareness for the solar tour and APS’s efforts to make Arizona the solar capital of the world. The featured video is a great summary of all three stops in a fun and friendly way that will put a smile on your face.