The Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP) has found a location for its latest solar power installation. By December 2010, when construction is expected to conclude, the University of Arizona’s TechPark will play host to a 1.6-megawatt (MW) solar energy system dually built by SOLON Corporation and TEP.

There are two unique aspects to SOLON’s role in this project. One is that SOLON has built its own manufacturing facility in Tucson and the panels used in the installation will be built locally. Over the last decade, domestic manufacturing of renewable energy products has been declining, so local manufacturing is always a good sign.

The second is that SOLON offers their Velocity MW Solar System, which comes with preconfigured, one-megawatt solar modules that are used when utilities want to quickly scale to capacity, according to Trading Markets. The modules allow solar project installation to be expedited because, since they are preconfigured, it’s easier to get through site development and plant permitting. Those steps can delay plant construction for months or years.

The new plant will feature a single-axis tracking system also built by SOLON. Since the modules come ready in premade clusters, the cost and time of field installed labor will be significantly cut.