The U.S. Dept. of Energy has announced "the offer of a conditional commitment to Agua Caliente Solar, LLC for a loan guarantee of up to $967 million. The loan guarantee will support the construction of a 290-megawatt photovoltaic solar generating facility located in Yuma County, Arizona that will use thin film solar panels from [Tempe-based] First Solar, Inc. The project sponsor, NRG Solar, estimates the project will be the largest photovoltaic generation facility in the world when it is completed."
First Solar says "when fully operational, the 290MW Agua Caliente Solar Project will generate enough clean solar energy to serve the needs of about 100,000 average homes per year, displacing approximately 220,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year—the equivalent of taking about 40,000 cars off the road. Construction on the Agua Caliente Solar Project is planned to begin in late 2010. Pacific Gas & Electric Company has contracted to purchase the project's output for 25 years. "