Desert Sunlight Solar Farm


The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is a 550 megawatt photovoltaic power station approximately six miles north of Desert Center, California, in the Mojave Desert. It uses approximately 8.8 million cadmium telluride modules made by the US thin-film manufacturer First Solar. As of Fall 2015, the Solar Farm has the same 550 MW installed capacity as the Topaz Solar Farm in the Carrizo Plain region of Central California, making both of them tied for the second largest completed solar plants by installed capacity.

Project details

Project construction took place in two phases, both of which are supported by power purchase agreements.
Phase I has a capacity of 300 MW, which will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Phase II has a capacity of 250 MW, which will be sold to Southern California Edison. The project was expected to involve more than 550 construction jobs in Riverside County, California. The project was built on over of creosote bush-dominated desert habitat near Desert Center next to Joshua Tree National Park. Construction began in September, 2011 and final completion was in January 2015.
The $1.46 billion in loans for the project are partially guaranteed by DOE and will be funded by a group of investors led by Goldman Sachs Lending Partners, which submitted the project under the Financial Institution Partnership Program, and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. as co-lead arranger.

Electricity production

YearTotal Annual MW·h
2013104,301
20141,020,905
20151,286,763
20161,346,282
20171,321,129
20181,344,841
Average 1,324,754

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
201312,87715,65728,534
201421,77327,20734,90141,46139,40043,82951,57239,49746,36046,36446,79334,333473,490
201540,39947,89456,37159,56960,77557,71558,34858,78739,09747,56245,79141,633613,941
201639,15150,93355,13554,19863,11859,00861,05157,52653,06250,94743,47636,137623,742
201725,22528,17552,53955,35469,59875,42468,75063,53659,32954,65533,58632,031618,201
201828,72240,50146,31057,89469,78475,18864,99065,44261,95048,80933,57326,709619,921

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
201310,01532,70933,04375,767
201432,31234,61544,99845,87643,73347,20545,69844,64266,53151,57152,96037,274547,415
201545,80252,96660,74264,54161,36763,14763,62063,51744,39853,46751,54347,712672,822
201644,90358,49261,87560,22374,22070,24172,66167,90761,62358,04150,54241,812722,540
201728,68232,03659,74062,94079,13785,76178,17272,24367,46062,14638,18936,421702,928
201833,64547,36154,15467,69981,60487,92275,99876,52772,44357,07639,25931,232724,920

Environmental issues

In 2012 the National Parks Conservation Association issued a report identifying three desert solar power plants sited within five miles of National Parks in the California Desert as projects that they suggest should not have been approved in their locations, including the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm. The group cites damage to visual resources, and impacts on desert species.