Tessera Solar announced that it has been selected to develop as much as 500 megawatts (MW) of concentrating solar power on land owned by Riverside County (California).
The solar projects will utilize the SunCatcherTM power system manufactured by Tessera Solar’s sister
company, Stirling Energy Systems, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Optiflex Properties & Development LLC (Optiflex), a real estate and
technology development company, is partnering with Tessera Solar to co?develop and co?finance the
projects, which will be located at closed landfills and on undeveloped land
adjacent to County airports.
The company
is currently analyzing the parcels of available land to determine the best location for the projects.
Power
produced from the projects will be sold to utilities and communities across the state of California to help
achieve renewable portfolio standard requirements and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
On June 29, 2009 U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that
202,295 acres of public lands in the eastern half of Riverside County would be the largest of 24 solar energy
study zones singled out for fast?track development.
The SunCatcher™ system uses precision mirrors attached to a parabolic dish to concentrate the sun’s
energy onto a high?efficiency Stirling Engine. Because stirling engines are powered by hot air, the system uses less than 1% of the water
required by competing solar thermal technologies driven by steam.
The Riverside County announcement expands Tessera Solar’s portfolio of Southern California projects
already in development. Imperial Valley–Solar Two, near El Centro, and Calico–Solar One, near
Barstow, are currently undergoing the joint permitting process by the California Energy Commission and
Bureau of Land Management, and scheduled to begin construction by the end of next year.
Last month Tessera Solar and CPS Energy announced a power purchase agreement for a 27-MW project in West Texas.
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