PG&E Solar Project Marks Construction Milestone
For many construction projects, the biggest challenge is getting past all the reviews and winning all the approvals needed to actually put shovels in the ground.
PG&E's 2 megawatt solar photovoltaic pilot project--named the Vaca-Dixon Solar Station after the electrical substation it neighbors--has achieved that milestone and is moving quickly to become a reliable source of clean, renewable electric power later this year.
This photo, taken September 14, shows the first panels going up. They are polycrystalline modules from Solon Corporation, which PG&E selected after competitive bid as the turnkey supplier to build the facility.
Solon is building the facility with help from Silverwood Energy, Inc., a California disabled veteran business enterprise.
The pilot represents the utility's first step in implementing its plan to promote 500 MW of clean new PV power over five years--250 MW to be built by the utility and 250 MW by independent developers. (The plan, proposed in February, is under consideration by the California Public Utilities Commission.)
If the projects are approved and finished by 2015, they are expected to deliver more than 1,000 gigawatt hours of power each year, equal to the annual consumption of about 150,000 average homes. In all, this program would meet over 1.3 percent of PG&E's electric demand.
