A Navajo Nation entity has taken its first step to generating electricity by starting a solar farm.
The Daily Times of Farmington, New Mexico, reports the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority recently started operating the 27.3-megawatt Kayenta Solar Project on 200 acres (.8 square kilometers) near Kayenta, Arizona.
Officials say it is the first large-scale solar energy facility on the reservation.
Solar farm project manager Glenn Steiger says the closing of the Navajo Generating Station is leaving a hole in power generation in the region. He says that hole ultimately will be filled with renewable energy.
Steiger says the solar panels are equipped to position flat when wind speeds increase more than 50 mph. He says two weather stations on site monitor wind speed, temperature and humidity.
