Feb 23 2011
Southern California Edison, a power utility company, has declared that it will switch on its new 6.7 MW solar power system located in Porterville on 24th February, thus making the utility owned solar PV power system functional.
SCE commenced the construction of the solar facility over a 32 acre land close to Porterville Municipal Airport in October last year. The land was taken on a 20 year lease by the company from the city of Porterville. The solar facility with over 29,000 solar panels will generate enough power to provide electricity to around 4,300 homes. The power produced from the facility will be linked to the Central valley power grid owned by the utility.
According to Cal Rossi, region representative of SCE, the $18 million solar facility installed at Porterville will produce electricity at $3 per watt rate well below such typical productions costing $7. The facility will also enable the utility to achieve its goal of harvesting 33% of its power generation from renewable energy sources by the year 2020.
The Porterville facility is one among the 100 such facilities the company has planned as part of its Rooftop solar Program introduced in 2008. The company with an investment of around $875 million is looking forward to achieving 250 MW on its own and another 250 MW through signed accords with other energy suppliers.
Source: http://www.sce.com