Cleantech America, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of utility-scale, environmentally clean solar farms, is finalizing plans build a landmark utility-scale photovoltaic solar power plant – CalRENEW-1 – the most advanced PV solar facility in the world. It will employ a blend of current flat panel and advanced concentrator PV solar to generate GHG-free peak solar power.
At the planned start of operation in late 2008, CalRENEW-1 will create GHG-free, peak electricity from the sun under a 20 year purchase agreement. CalRENEW-1 is proposed for a site in the Fresno, CA, area. Upon proposed start-up it would be the largest PV solar plant in the United States (as differentiated from solar thermal, which emits greenhouse gases and other pollutants). The company hopes the project will be a magnet for renewable energy economic development, and will generate significant tax and clean air benefits.
Cleantech America says CalRENEW-1 would incorporate a blend of current and new concentrator PV solar technologies, making it an incubator for emerging solar technologies. The company has received many inquiries and expressions of interest from solar and renewable industry leaders about the economic development potential in proximity to the facility.
