An 80 megawatt (MW) solar power plant – the world’s largest and big enough to power nearly 21,000 homes – will be built near Fresno, California.

A California-based startup company called Cleantech America LLC plans to build the solar farm. The company develops utility-scale solar plants and wants to commercialize photovoltaic (PV) solar technology in order to slow global warming and increase America’s energy independence.

The San Joaquin Valley Customer Choice Solar Farm (hopefully they’ll think of an acronym or something) is expected to be completed in 2011 and will cover 640 acres. That’s far larger than North America’s largest planned solar power plant in Nevada and double the size of the world’s largest solar project planned for Germany.

Cleantech’s CEO Bill Barnes told CNN that this project will make California the world’s clear leader in solar power, catapulting it ahead the current powerhouse, Germany:

“We’re pretty confident that solar farms on this scale are going to have an industry-changing impact. We think it’s the wave of the future. This scale of project, I think, creates a tipping point for renewable energy…the impact for it will be similar to the impact of the computer chip.”

The San Joaquin Valley is well-suited for a large solar project, according to Cleantech. Its good sun resources allow for power to be generated close to where it is needed and reduce the poor air quality that plagues the area. Producing power locally will also save on transmission costs that can drive up the price on out-of-state electricity.

According to the EPA, an 80 MW solar power plant would avoid up to 450 pounds of toxic mercury emissions and 100 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year – a major contributor to global warming. That’s the equivalent of keeping 20,000 vehicles off the road. The University of California at Berkeley found that the San Joaquin Valley could see considerable job creation if the growth of solar projects in the area continues; up to 1,040 installation and maintenance jobs and 1,600 solar manufacturing jobs may be created, mostly in the local vicinity.

Some significant hurdles remain. Namely, choosing one of five sites under consideration to locate the solar power project, connecting it to the transmission system, and contracting with a manufacturer to supply the PV panels. The California Energy Commission must certify the solar plant as a renewable energy source that doesn’t create pollution, and a number of local permits must be obtained.

Cleantech will partner with the California Construction Authority to build the plant and sell the energy to the Kings River Conservation District, a public agency that is the water management arm of the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority. The Power Authority was created in late 2006 to reduce the power now bought from investor-owned utilities like PG&E and Southern California Edison.

Cleantech America
CNN
Fresno Bee