The Air Force will invest around $100 million on the plant, which will be sitting on 57 hectares (140 acres). The plant will have trackers and will use silicon modules.
The plan is part of the American Department of Defense's efforts to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels. Many analysts hope that the army shows leadership in renewable energy by building large plants like this, thus bringing down the cost of facilities and making them more affordable for the general public and private companies. This has happened before in many fields, such as satellites, special fabrics or GPS.
The newly announced plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2007. Although it will not completely cover the nearby Nellis Airforce base's power needs, it will become a considerable supplement.
We might see many more cases like this in the coming years, especially if the tax credits currently in place are extended, something necessary for the stability of the solar industry in American, which is lagging well behind
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