The Desert Star Solar Projects are located on 164 acres between the communities of Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree, Calif. SolarWorld's engineering, procurement and construction division is overseeing all phases of the project.
Once completed later this year, Desert Star will rank among California’s largest operating crystalline-silicon solar installations.
"Desert Star is the latest in a line of utility-scale projects dating to the early 1980s that demonstrates the deep experience and wide-ranging capabilities of SolarWorld’s EPC division," said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld Americas, the company’s commercial arm, based in Camarillo, Calif.
"The projects spotlight the best of American solar ingenuity, combining our U.S.-manufactured solar panels and single-axis tracker with some of the country’s brightest solar engineering and construction talent," Kilkelly added.
Desert Star will feed an estimated 58,312 megawatt-hours of renewable energy annually into the Southern California Edison electrical grid, enough to power 9,000 typical American homes each year, the company said.
The projects are expected to eliminate about 31,000 tons of carbon emissions a year, the equivalent of taking about 61,000 vehicles off the road for their life spans.
SolarWorld began acquiring and designing the Desert Star Solar Projects this past spring. Grading and site preparation began in June.
SolarWorld said it plans to hire about 150 local trade and non-trade workers for construction and permanent operations and maintenance positions. The company estimates the installation will infuse $5.2 million into the local economy during construction.
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