Oct 11 2010
SolarReserve LLC, a Santa Monica California-headquartered, solar energy technology and project development company, has announced its decision to speed up its Rice Solar Energy Project.
The announcement is in sequel to the ruling of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve the 25 year power sales agreement the company has signed with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) during last December.
The 150 MW solar project will be situated over a privately owned land sited in eastern Riverside County of California. On completion of its construction it will generate around 450,000 MWh of solar power annually which can be used to provide power to over 68,000 houses during peak-power consumption period. The solar project will incorporate sophisticated and exclusive molten salt system technology of Solar Reserve under license from United Technology Corporation. The technology will allow the project to store the solar energy for a period of 10 hours and produce power during solar eclipse times and nights. The technology allows generation of power to manage peak-power demands. The energy storage capability incorporated in the system will allow continuous supply of electricity similar to that of a fossil fuel system.
The project located over a formerly distributed privately owned land does not require the use of natural gas to support its operations either during the night or cloudy, solar eclipse durations. The special attributes of the project helped in receiving faster clearance during the licensing process of the California Energy Commission.
Source: http://www.solarreserve.com/