MidAmerican Solar and SunPower Corp. announced last week the installation of the one millionth photovoltaic module at the Solar Star development, which is co-located in Kern and Los Angeles counties in California.
The Solar Star development is currently delivering more than 170 megawatts to the California ISO grid.
When complete, the 579-megawatt (AC) projects will have more than 1.7 million modules installed. The first solar module was installed in March 2013, and the projects are expected to be complete by year-end 2015.
Southern California Edison will purchase electricity from the projects under two long-term power purchase agreements.
"With the project more than halfway complete, installing the one millionth module marks a substantial achievement for all involved," said Bryan Whitcomb, general manager, MidAmerican Solar.
The Solar Star projects are owned by MidAmerican Solar and are being constructed by SunPower, which also will provide operations and maintenance services.
"Two advantages of solar photovoltaic technology are that it is fast to install and it can begin generating power to the grid before a plant is fully constructed," said Jorg Heinemann, SunPower executive vice president, customer operations and engineering, procurement and construction.
"SunPower is very pleased with our progress at the Solar Star projects, where we are working with our project partners and the community to deliver one of the world's largest solar power plants on schedule," added Heinemann.
The Solar Star projects are creating approximately 650 jobs during its three-year construction period. They are estimated to generate more than $500 million in regional economic impact.
According to estimates provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, electricity generated from the projects will displace approximately 570,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year – the equivalent of removing more than 2 million cars from highways over 20 years.