PGE is helping to grow solar energy in Oregon in a variety of ways, including recruiting solar manufacturers here and creating partnerships to implement solar electric installations. Learn about PGE’s pioneering solar projects:
Nation’s first solar highway
PGE helped develop the nation’s first solar highway — the Oregon Solar Highway Demonstration Project — at the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 interchange in Tualatin.
The electricity generated is operating highway lights reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. The 104-kilowatt solar photovoltaic demonstration project, which covers about 8,000 square feet — roughly the length of two football fields — is a collaborative effort with the Oregon Department of Transportation. The $1.3 million project came online in December 2008 and is an all-Oregon project built by Oregon companies.
View a solar dashboard showing its current energy output.
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Baldock Solar Highway Project
In January 2012, PGE and the Oregon Department of Transportation brought their second joint solar highway project online — the nation’s largest solar highway project!
Adjacent to farm fields on one side and a safety rest area on the other, the Baldock Solar Highway Project is a 1.75-megawatt solar array at the Baldock Safety Rest Area, south of Wilsonville on Interstate 5. The 6,994 panel array sits on approximately seven acres at the northbound rest area, producing about 1.97 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually.
The project features a solar energy interpretive display, edged by a sustainable community garden. It is an all-Oregon project built by Oregon companies.
View a solar dashboard showing its current energy output.
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Yamhill and Bellevue Projects
PGE customers also are receiving renewable energy from enXco's Yamhill and Bellevue Solar Projects in Oregon's Yamhill County. Completed in fall 2011, the two thin-film solar photovoltaic installations cover about 23 acres and have a combined generating capacity of 2.84 MW, enough to power about 2,300 homes at peak production. Individually, they are the second-and third-largest solar facilities now operating in Oregon and will help serve PGE customers for 25 years.
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Northwest’s largest rooftop installation
PGE, ProLogis and other partners rolled out a 2.4 megawatt rooftop solar project in 2010, the largest solar project in the Pacific Northwest. The project adds to a 2009 ProLogis rooftop solar project, bringing PGE’s total partnership with ProLogis to 3.5 megawatts of solar energy, enough to power about 388 households annually. The project was also funded in part by PGE Clean Wind renewable power customers.
The 2010 project covers 900,000 square feet of roof space on seven ProLogis distribution centers in Portland, Gresham and Clackamas. Using thin-film solar panels, it puts solar power directly onto the grid, adding to the renewable energy PGE already delivers to our customers.
View a solar dashboard showing its current energy output.
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