Eastern San Luis Obispo County is now home to the world’s largest solar farm. [Green Tech]
The 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm located in California Valley became fully operational late last month, and workers are expected to install the finishing touches early next year. Topaz is the first 500-megawatt solar farm to become operational in the U.S., in addition to being the largest plant of its size in the world.
Topaz Solar Farm is the second of two photovoltaic plants to go operational on San Luis Obispo County’s Carrizo Plain. Workers completed construction of the 250-megawatt Solar Ranch last year.
The Solar Ranch now delivers enough electricity to power 100,000 homes annually. Topaz is expected to power 160,000 homes.
First Solar, the developer of both projects, says the Topaz farm will create $52 million in economic output for local suppliers. PG&E will purchase the energy under an agreement with First Solar.
