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SunPower lands mega solar deals in Florida

In SunPower's biggest deals to date, Florida Power & Light signs on for a 25 megwatt plant in DeSoto County and a 10 megawatt installation at Kennedy Space Station.

Martin LaMonica Former Staff writer, CNET News
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer covering green tech and cutting-edge technologies. He joined CNET in 2002 to cover enterprise IT and Web development and was previously executive editor of IT publication InfoWorld.
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Martin LaMonica

SunPower on Thursday announced two deals with Florida Power & Light to build 35 megawatts worth of electricity, including an installation at the Kennedy Space Station.

The deals are the largest to date for SunPower, which makes and installs solar photovoltaic panels.

The Florida power plants will use a sun-tracking system like this one used in the Serpa plant in Spain. SunPower

A 25-megawatt plant will be installed by DeSoto County by 2009 and the Kennedy Space Center will have its 10 megawatt plant done by 2010. Florida Power &Light will own and operate the plants.

The largest solar photovoltaic plant in the U.S. is at the Nellis Air Force base in Nevada, which generates 14 megawatts.

Earlier this week, General Motors said that it intends to build a 10-megawatt installation at an assembly plant in Spain.

Large corporations build these huge installations to get a fixed electricity rate over several years, typically 20 or 25 years.

Utilities are purchasing wind and solar power because of high fossil fuel prices and state-level renewable energy mandates.