The University of Toledo (Ohio) plans to install a solar field that will, when completed, become the state’s largest solar array.

Completion is slated for the end of 2009, with the 1.1-megawatt solar field array, located at UT’s Scott Park Campus of Energy and Innovation, providing about 5 percent of UT’s electricity needs.

The field array is being installed by Maumee-based Advanced Distributed Generation (ADG), using 30 workers to place the 75-watt panels from Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar, a manufacturer whose nearest office to UT is in Perrysburg.

ADG, a licensed general contracting company located in the alternative energy incubator at UT, is the leading photovoltaic (PV) integrator in the Midwest, specializing in designing and installing solar PV systems, and already has $4 million in PV installations under its belt, representing about 500 kilowatts of grid-connected photovoltaics.

First Solar, founded in 1999, currently has 1189 megawatts of manufacturing capacity, and is reported to have achieved the lowest manufacturing cost per watt in the industry; $.85/watt. The company broke the $1-per-watt barrier in 2008, and achieved listing on the S&P 500 this fall, but is struggling with bottom-line financials as a result of a Canadian project falling just over the Q3 line into Q4.

According to UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs, all but the solar inverters for the project were made in Ohio – a correction that will soon be made if Nextronex Energy Systems gets its $1 million in stimulus funding to bring inverters to market.

The field array will also provide a learning resource to UT students. The university is already considered a national leader in research toward developing lower-cost methods of producing solar panels.

When completed, the 1.1-megawatt field array will outrank the solar field located at the Ohio Air National Guard Base, which is expected to produce up to 900 kilowatts of electricity. This installation, costing $5 million, is slated for completion in October of 2010, is adjacent to Toledo Express Airport.

On Nov. 10, UT and Ohio’s Regional Growth Partnership organization also met with SRI International, an independent, nonprofit research institute that works largely on “research for hire” contracts (specifically from government), has so far come up with innovations in robotic surgery, the first computer mouse, HD TV, and electronic banking.

With more than 2,000 employees in more than 20 locations worldwide, and annual revenues in excess of $500 million, SRI is looking to expand its operations into alternative energy, with the UT campus as one possible location. SRI currently has an engineering facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan, opened in January of 2008.

The decision to choose UT – reportedly influence by the school’s cutting-edge solar research over the past quarter century – is about a year away, but SRI’s presence would reportedly transform the Scott Park campus into a teaching/research/business incubator for alternative energy projects.