eSolar, a leading provider of modular solar thermal power technology, Wednesday unveiled its 5-megawatt (MW) Sierra SunTower solar power plant.
The full-scale power plant, the only power tower of its kind in the U.S., produces electricity for Southern California Edison (SCE) and can power more than 4,000 homes in California’s Antelope Valley.
eSolar says its technology resolves many of the problems that have held back large scale solar in the past including cost, speed of deployment and proximity to existing transmission lines. eSolar uses software algorithms to precisely focus thousands of mirrors on a single point to efficiently harvest the sun’s energy and achieve economies of scale with a smaller footprint than traditional solar-thermal plants.
"Today, we unveil a new blueprint for solar energy–one that leverages Moore’s law rather than more steel," said Bill Gross, CEO of eSolar. "Sierra is just the beginning. Soon eSolar technology will be deployed worldwide to provide clean, affordable energy to hundreds of thousands of homes."
Constructed in less than one year, eSolar’s Sierra SunTower power plant marks the first of several developments in the Antelope Valley region using eSolar technology. Over the course of construction, the project supported 300 jobs the company said.
"With today’s historic plant opening, eSolar is proving that California’s energy and environmental leadership are advancing carbon-free, cost-effective energy that can be used around the world," California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said.
eSolar said it develops its California projects on parcels of previously disturbed private lands, avoiding many of the permitting and environmental pitfalls of development on pristine desert lands.
"eSolar demonstrates that pristine wildlands do not have to be sacrificed in order to keep the lights on with clean energy," remarked David Myers, Executive Director of the Wildlands Conservancy. "eSolar’s efforts to reduce its impact on the surrounding environment demonstrates a level of foresight we hope to see from other solar developers in the future."
Sierra SunTower was fully financed and developed by eSolar. eSolar plans to deploy many more plants around the country and around the world. In February, the company announced an agreement with NRG Energy, Inc. to develop three plants in California and New Mexico that will generate up to 465 MW of electricity using eSolar technology.
Additionally, in March, eSolar licensed its technology to India-based ACME Group for approximately 1 gigawatt of eSolar solar thermal capacity.
Pasadena, California-based eSolar is an Idealab company founded in 2007 to develop, construct and deploy modular, scalable solar thermal power plants. eSolar’s approach marries a low-impact, pre-fabricated form factor with advanced optics and computer software engineering.
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