Huge solar farm opens in California: Enough energy for 160,000 homes

Taylor Goldenstein | LA Times | Link to article

About 4,000 acres of shiny black solar panels stretch across Riverside County near Joshua Tree National Park, where on Monday U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell dedicated one of the largest photovoltaic solar energy farms in the world.

“This is the beginning of a renewable energy future,” Jewell said before helping turn on a large model light switch.
Huge solar farm opens in California near Joshua Tree

Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, a 550-megawatt farm that is the largest on public lands managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management, began operating in December 2014 and will provide enough energy to power more than 160,000 average California homes annually, said Georges Antoun, chief operating officer of the farm’s Tempe, Ariz.-based developer First Solar Inc. (complete article)

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell gets a tour with officials of the new Desert Sunlight Solar Farm in Desert Center, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell gets a tour with officials of the new Desert Sunlight Solar Farm in Desert Center, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)