80MW solar farm planned for California

The largest-solar-farm-in-the-world arms race has officially escalated, again.

San Francisco-based Cleantech America has announced plans to build an 80-megawatt solar plant in California's central San Joachin valley—intended to be the largest in the world by several times.

The project would produce enough electricity for 20,800 homes by completion in 2011.

The company estimates the plant would cover 640 acres at build-out.

The company says many details have yet to be worked out, such as cost and the exact location in west Fresno County. The company is evaluating five sites, it says.

Other solar projects in the immediate area have included a 1.13-megawatt, $3.2 million system, and a $7.5 million, 1.1-megawatt system at two local farms.

Just last week, Cleantech announced plans to build a 5-megawatt plant on 40 acres near a Pacific Gas & Electric substation in the area.

The 80-megawatt plant would dwarf America's existing largest solar installation, which is near Tucson, Ariz., and produces 4.6 megawatts.

It also would be far larger than the next-largest planned project in the United States, a 15-megawatt system in Nevada, or a 40 MW plant being planned near Leipzig, Germany, to be operational by 2009.

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