First Solar Power Projects Approved to be Built on U.S. Public Lands
Energy from the Sun Parabolic solar troughs harvest sunlight at a solar thermal power installation in California. kjkolb via The The U.S. may be years behind some European nations and China when it comes to taking advantage of solar power tech, but even global superpowers have to start somewhere. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has approved the first large-scale solar energy projects to be built on public lands, a first step in unlocking the acres upon acres of federal and state managed real estate for clean energy production. The approval paves the way for two projects: The Imperial Valley Solar Project managed by Texas-based Tessera Solar, a 6,360-acre site that will harvest up to 709 megawatts from 28,360 solar dishes, and the Chevron Lucerne Valley Solar Project, managed by Chevron and pulling in up to 45 megawatts from 40,500 solar panels. Together they will be able to power somewhere between 226,000...