The 550-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) facility is located six miles north of Desert Center in Riverside County. Desert Sunlight will be one of the largest solar PV projects in the world when complete. The project is on approximately 3,800 acres of federal land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Project owners are NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, GE Energy Financial Services, and Sumitomo Corporation of America. First Solar is building and operating the facility.
The Desert Sunlight project received support from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Photos courtesy of Desert Sunlight
Benefits
The project is estimated to displace more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year – equivalent to taking 60,000 cars off the road annually.
The facility will provide enough clean, renewable energy to power more than 160,000 average California homes annually.
More than 630 jobs are expected to be created at the peak of construction and an estimate 15 full-time jobs needed when the facility is operational.
Type of Project
Solar photovoltaic
Status
Construction began in September 2011 with full operation expected by 2015.
SEE LOCATIONS ON THE TOUR
Alta Wind Energy Center
Wind
CleanWorld Sacramento BioDigester
Anaerobic digester
Desert Sunlight Solar Farm
Solar photovoltaic
Electric Vehicles International
Electric vehicle manufacturing
The Geysers
Geothermal
Helms Pumped Storage Facility
Hydroelectric storage
Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System
Solar thermal
Mendota Bioenergy, LLC
Biorefinery demonstration
Playa Vista Elementary School
Green school
Public Electric Vehicle Charging at the South Coast Air Quality Management District
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure
Santa Rita Jail
Smart grid/solar/wind/fuel cell/advanced energy storage/solar thermal
UC Davis West Village
Zero net energy mixed use, multi-unit housing communities