Salt River Project (SRP) and SunPower Corp. have dedicated a one-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant to the ASU Polytechnic campus. The solar power system is the first commercially deployed for SunPower Corp. using its SunPower C7 Tracker technology. The tracking system concentrates the sun’s power seven times to lower costs of electricity use from solar power plants available today.

The system uses little water and is predicted to generate as much energy needed to power 225 SRP customers' homes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the system will offset the production of 1,277 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year or the equivalent of removing 241 passenger vehicles from Arizona roads each year.

“This dynamic project with SunPower enables ASU to move closer to our 2015, 25-megawatt solar energy-generating goal, embrace innovative technologies, and facilitate possible education opportunities for our students,” said David Brixen, ASU’s associate vice president of Facilities Development and Management.