Renewable project developer, Invenergy Solar Development, has acquired semiconductor manufacturer Soitec’s 7MW solar plant.
The Desert Green Solar Farm plant is located in Berrego Springs of north eastern San Diego, 90 miles from the City of San Diego in California and will have 2,800 Soitec Concentrix modules installed with Soitec's Concentrix fifth generation CPV dual-axis tracking technology.
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The Soitec ‘CX-S530’ systems being installed are designed specifically for utility-scale solar power plants built in high solar radiance locations – such as the desert conditions of Berrego Springs, Soitec said in a statement.
During construction, 50 jobs are to be created with work to begin this month and completion planned for the end of this year.
Public utility, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is to purchase the power generated by Desert Green Solar Farm, with around 2,000 homes to be powered by the plant.
SDG&E has already signed PPAs with Soitec for 155MW – through five PPAs signed in 2011. The Desert Green Solar Farm is the first project to begin construction that has a PPA signed with SDG&E.
The modules used will be manufactured from Soitec's Rancho Bernardo factory. Soitec invested US$150 million in the San Diego factory that has employed more than 250 people since Soitec’s acquisition of the factory at Rancho Bernardo, in 2011.
The clean energy generated from the solar plant will also be helping SDG&E to meet its state Renewable Portfolio Standard goals, said James Avery, senior vice president of power supply at SDG&E.
Jim Shield, chief development officer at Invenergy said: “Desert Green is a real milestone for Invenergy as our first clean energy project in the state [of California]. We're proud to invest in Borrego Springs, and look forward to a long and successful relationship with the community.”