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utility-scale solar

First Solar opens utility-scale power plant

Solar module maker First Solar on Monday opened the largest photovoltaic solar power station in California, which the company plans to replicate in order to expand its utility business.

The plant in Blythe, Calif., which First Solar sold to energy developer NRG last month, will have the capacity to generate 21 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power about 17,000 homes. It will supply electricity to Southern California Edison under a 20-year purchase power agreement.

It's one of a number of projects that First Solar is pursuing as it seeks to expand in the utility-scale solar business. A … Read more

eSolar lands solar power plant deal

eSolar on Tuesday said that it will build solar thermal power plants that will make 245 megawatts of electricity for Southern California Edison.

The plants will be built in the Antelope Valley of Southern California and begin operating in 2011.

The company, created by Idealabs and funded by Google.org, makes utility-scale concentrating solar power systems with a modular design.

Software-controlled heliostats, or mirrors, reflect light onto a tower where the heat turns water to steam that turns a turbine.

The company raised $130 million in April.

California is a hotbed for utility-scale solar power because the state has relatively … Read more

Big solar: Utility-scale power plants arise

When it comes to solar these days, it's go big or go home.

Utilities are being pushed to use more renewable energy, heating up the business of large-scale solar power. (Click here for related photo gallery.)

There are competing designs for utility-scale solar farms. By concentrating light to make steam, some designs use heat to generate electricity. In parallel, other companies concentrate light onto photovoltaic cells to generate electricity.

The latter, known as concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems, may make more sense in a broader set of geographies, compared with concentrating solar thermal. Both forms of concentrating solar power are … Read more