High Plains Ranch

High Plains Ranch II is a proposed 250 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic power plant which is to be built by SunPower in the Carrizo Plain, northwest of California Valley. On August 14, 2008, Pacific Gas and Electric announced an agreement to buy all the power from the power plant. cite web
url= http://www.pge.com/about/news/mediarelations/newsreleases/q3_2008/080814.shtml
title= PG&E Signs Historic 800 MW Photovoltaic Solar Power Agreements With Optisolar and Sunpower
date= 2008-08-14 | publisher= Pacific Gas & Electric
accessdate= 2008-08-15 ] Commenting on this project and a nearby 550 MW project announced at the same time, Daniel Kammen, the director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkeley, said "This scale is 10 times larger than what was being talked about awhile ago". cite news
url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/14/BUP412B774.DTL
title= PG&E plans big investment in solar power
last= DeBare | first= Ilana
date= 2008-08-15 | work= San Francisco Chronicle
accessdate= 2008-08-15 ]

Built on convert|3.5|mi2 of ranchland, cite news
url= http://www.mcclatchydc.com/economics/story/48267.html
title= Calif. utility agrees to buy solar power from two proposed plants
last= Sneed | first= David
date= 2008-08-15 | work= The San Luis Obispo Tribune
accessdate= 2008-08-15 ] the project would utilize high-efficiency, crystalline PV panels designed and manufactured by SunPower, a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor. The project would deliver approximately 550 gigawatt-hours (GW·h) annually of renewable energy. While the plant would only have a capacity factor of 25%, its power would be generated during the middle of the day, when demand for electricity — and price — is much higher than at night. The project is expected to begin power delivery in 2010, and be fully operational by 2012. California utilities are mandated to get 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2010.

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