APS Red Rock Solar Facility
Tucson 
Award of Merit

Owner/Developer: Arizona Public Service Co.
Design Firm: Taylor RyMar Corp.
General Contractor: McCarthy Building Cos.
Civil Engineer: Dibble Engineering
Structural Engineer: Meyer Borgman Johnson Inc.
MEP Engineer: Taylor RyMar Corp.
Subcontractors: Blount Contracting; CG Power Systems; Consolidated Rebar; Goudy Engineering; Hatfield Construction; Hunter Engineering; Innovative Building Solutions; KCS; Locus Energy; NEXTracker; Oremous Materials; Power Electronics; Southwest Ground Control; Trina Solar; Wilson Electric; Wind Turbine & Energy Cables

The Red Rock facility—Arizona Public Service Co.’s largest solar plant—sits on 400 acres in Red Rock. With more than 2,000 single-axis trackers supporting more than 180,000 photovoltaic panels, Red Rock generates 40 MW of solar energy, roughly enough electricity to power about 10,000 homes.

The key challenge was interconnection and testing with a nearby APS-led substation and underground installations to solar plant switches.

Two design elements that benefited the project’s long-term operation included soil-cement stabilization for erosion protection and braided bus connections for the alternating current system.

In more than 150,000 worker-hours, there were no lost-time or OSHA-recordable incidents. Contractor McCarthy Building Cos. linked the safety results to mandatory site safety orientation, providing shade and liquids for workers and pairing new crew members with seasoned personnel.

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