Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

50 MW US thin film PV plant switched on

U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar has officially inaugurated the 50 megawatt (MW) Silver State North photovoltaic project, located in Nevada.

Secretary Salazar (center) tours the photovoltaic project with Enbridge president, Al Monaco (l) and First Solar senior VP, Frank De Rosa.

Tami A. Heilemann Office of Communications

At the end of March, beleaguered thin film module manufacturer and project developer, First Solar, sold the large-scale photovoltaic project to Canada-based Enbridge Inc. for an undisclosed sum. It is said to be the first such facility on U.S. public lands and is expected to generate enough energy annually to power 9,000 homes.

Commenting, Salazar said, "This is a landmark day for solar energy and for the nation. Silver State North was the first solar project we approved on public lands in Nevada and – 18 months later – the first of our priority projects to provide clean energy to the power grid."

The project was the first that Enbridge acquired in the U.S. solar market. However at the time of purchase, VP of Green Energy, Don Thompson, indicated that it won’t be the last. "The U.S. solar market presents significant growth opportunities given the excellent solar resource, supportive regulatory environment and expanding portfolio of solar energy projects," he said.