By 2011, near Fresno, California, San Francisco-based Cleantech America LLC plans to build the world"s largest solar power plant: 640 acres to fit the 80-megawatt farm, seven times the size of the world"s biggest plant and double the largest planned farm, both in Germany. Bill Barnes, CEO of the privately held 2-year-old company, said the scale of the project will change renewable energy and make California the global leader for huge solar projects, replacing Germany as the solar energy hub of the world. Barnes declined to give the estimated construction cost of the Community Choice farm.
Cleantech will partner with public agency California Construction Authority. Among the hurdles to be crossed before the new farm can be built, said Barnes, is buying the acreage somewhere in the San Joaquin Valley, hooking the farm to transmission lines, and contracting with a manufacturer of photovoltaic solar panels. Cleantech plans to sell the solar-generated power (enough for almost 21,000 homes) to the Kings River Conservation District, the water management arm of the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority.