SOLON Corporation, one of the largest providers of turnkey solar power plants in the U.S., today announced the commercial operation of a 15-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) station in collaboration with California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), which supplies natural gas and electric service to approximately 15 million people in Northern and Central California.
The 15-MW project is part of PG&E’s 250-MW Utility Owned Generation (UOG) PV Program, a five-year plan for the construction of utility-owned solar PV stations. SOLON previously constructed PG&E’s Vaca-Dixon solar PV pilot project in late 2009, for which it received PG&E's "Generation Supplier of the Year" award last year.
Construction of the utility-owned project began in May 2011, led by SOLON’s engineering, procurement and construction services. The system uses SOLON’s Velocity MW cluster concept with fixed-tilt mounting, along with over 75,000 SOLON solar panels. The solar station is located on approximately 100 acres of land near Fresno in Central California and employed approximately 125 local workers, including 75 from IBEW Local 1245.
"PG&E’s solar PV program is focused on speeding up the delivery of renewable energy to our customers," said Randy Livingston, Vice President of Power Generation for PG&E. "These projects demonstrate PG&E’s ongoing commitment to providing more green power and being a leader in California’s clean energy future.”
“SOLON takes great pride in its leadership position as a supplier of turnkey solar station solutions for major energy suppliers in the U.S., including our work with PG&E on their noteworthy 250 MW UOG PV Program,” said Dan Alcombright, Chief Executive Officer and President of North America for SOLON. “This particular 15-MW project has had an immediate effect on the California economy by creating well over 100 local jobs, with a projected energy output of more than 30 million kilowatt hours of clean energy in the first year. We have received positive partner feedback for our perfect safety record and focus on reducing total cost of system ownership, as well as successfully navigating obstacles, such as zoning issues, in order to keep the project moving forward on the intended timeline to an on-time completion.”