Array Technologies and DuraTrack at Roadrunner Solar

With more than 1.2 million solar panels, Texas’s Roadrunner solar plant is one of the largest of its kind in the world. In fact, by the time its second phase of construction is complete later this year, it will be the largest operational solar farm in Texas.

The plant has created hundreds of local jobs and become a beacon in the march toward innovation and sustainability, promising to generate approximately 1.2 TW/h of solar energy annually. To put it in perspective, that’s enough to power more than 100,000 U.S. homes. And it’s driven by Array Technologies.

Enel Green Power, the operator of the Roadrunner solar farm, selected Array Technologies DuraTrack® HZ v3 single-axis solar trackers for their utility-scale photovoltaic solar plant, helping the plant’s incredible number of bifacial solar panels live up to their expansive power-producing potential.

More About Roadrunner

When complete, the Roadrunner solar farm will sprawl over an incredible 2,770 acres and have an oversized impact on our shared environment by avoiding the emission of over 800,000 tons of CO2 per year.

And the energy produced at Roadrunner is already set to be leveraged by some true titans of the foodservice and cleaning product industries, with Mondelez International signing on for a 12-year, 65MW power purchase agreement and The Clorox Company for a 12-year, 70MW power purchase agreement.

For Mondelez, this energy will be enough to produce half of the Oreos produced in the U.S. annually, and Clorox’s PPA represents around half of the company’s 100% renewable energy goal, which it originally hoped to achieve by 2025.

The project is also driving growth “at home,” with Enel Green creating local jobs, making investments in local education and emergency response initiatives, and generating approximately $60 million in new tax revenue over the life of the project.

The Upton County, Texas project was also integrated into an operating wind project area, meaning that the land is contributing to the world’s clean energy efforts in more ways than one. This integration is a model for the future of such projects.

Add it all up, and Roadrunner has done something extraordinary, converting a landscape being used for very little into an integral part of the world’s push toward sustainable, renewable energy.

“This milestone emphasizes the scale of Enel Green Power’s capability to develop, build and operate projects across diverse geographies and technologies in the U.S.,” said Georgios Papadimitriou, Head of Enel Green Power North America. “We continue to aggressively pursue opportunities for growth in North America, capitalizing on strong C&I demand for sustainable power and accelerating the transition to a carbon-free economy.”