Topaz Solar Farm is a 550

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

( MW_AC)

photovoltaic power station A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Mis ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Construction on the project began in November 2011 and ended in November 2014. It is one of the world's largest solar farms. The $2.5 billion project includes 9 million CdTe photovoltaic modules based on thin-film technology, manufactured by U.S. company

First Solar First Solar, Inc. is an American manufacturer of solar panels, and a provider of utility-scale PV power plants and supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses rigid thi ...

. The company also built, operates and maintains the project for MidAmerican Renewables, a

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...

company.

Pacific Gas and Electric The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...

will buy the electricity under a 25-year

power purchase agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...

. According to First Solar, it created about 400 construction jobs.

History

OptiSolar, the instigator of the project, had optioned of ranchland, In November 2009, First Solar announced that it had purchased options to an additional from Ausra's canceled

Carrizo Energy Solar Farm The Carrizo Energy Solar Farm was a proposed 177 megawatt (MW) solar thermal power plant, to be built by Ausra in California's Carrizo Plain, near Simmler. The location gets less sun than the Mojave Desert, where several other solar thermal p ...

. First Solar would reconfigure the project to minimize the use of land covered by the Williamson Act. The project uses nine million thin-film cadmium telluride PV panels designed and manufactured by First Solar. The plant's power would be generated during the middle of the day, when demand for electricity — and price — is much higher than at night. The project was expected to begin construction in 2011 and be fully operational by 2014. California utilities are mandated to get 33% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. On August 14, 2008,

Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 millio ...

announced agreements to buy the power from Topaz Solar Farm and

High Plains Ranch The California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) is a 250 megawatt (MW AC) photovoltaic power plant in the Carrizo Plain, northeast of California Valley. The project is owned by NRG Energy, and SunPower is the EPC contractor and technology provider ...

. In late October 2010 the San Luis Obispo Department Planning and Building released a Draft Environmental Impact report. In June 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy offered First Solar a $1.9 billion

loan guarantee A loan guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party (the guarantor) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. A guarantee can be limited or unlimited, making the guarantor liable for only a portion or all of the d ...

to cover part of the financing for the project. The First Solar project was not able to close its conditional loan guarantee with the Department of Energy prior to the September 30 deadline, but it has gone ahead anyway. On May 18, 2012, First Solar announced the installation of the first PV panel. On October 24, 2012, First Solar announced the installation of the millionth panel. The plant began providing energy to the grid in February 2013. The five-millionth panel was installed in October 2013.Five Millionth Photovoltaic Solar Module Installed on 550-Megawatt Topaz Solar Farms
Business Wire, 10/09/2013 On January 10, 2019, with

facing billions of dollars in wildfire liabilities,

S&P Global S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...

Ratings cut the credit rating of

Energy's 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farms to junk, noting that the plant counts on PG&E for all of its revenue.

Electricity production

Gallery

File:Work at Topaz Solar 3 (8159032324).jpg, Construction in 2012 File:Solar Panels at Topaz Solar 1 (8159002527) (2).jpg,

Solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

s at Topaz Solar 1 File:Solar Panels at Topaz Solar 7 (8159005503).jpg, Solar Panels at Topaz Solar 7 File:Topaz Solar Farm 20140515 Last Post installation on site.jpg, alt=Post crew standing in front of post machine and post after its installation into the ground., Post Crew installing last post on Aug 15, 2014. Post Number 850,280

References

External links

* * {{Solar power in the United States Solar power stations in California Buildings and structures in San Luis Obispo County, California Photovoltaic power stations in the United States Energy infrastructure completed in 2014 2014 establishments in California

History

Electricity production

Gallery

See also

References

External links