eSolar unveils new solar energy plant

By Danny Vo, Coolerplanet.com

The solar energy industry took a step forward this week as eSolar unveiled a new solar thermal tower in California.

According to the company, its 5-megawatt Sierra SunTower plant is currently the only one of its kind in the country. The facility will be able to power at least 4,000 California homes through Southern California Electric.

“Sierra is just the beginning. Soon eSolar technology will be deployed worldwide to provide clean, affordable energy to hundreds of thousands of homes,” said eSolar CEO Bill Gross.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also praised the “historic plant opening” that had been helped along by the state’s solar-friendly policies.

The plant will use thousands of mirrors to focus sunlight onto a tower containing fluid that is heated to power turbines. According to eSolar, the project was completed in under a year and created 300 construction jobs while it was in development.

A number of other utility-scale solar energy plants are expected to go online early in the next decade, especially in various parts of the Southwest.