Saturday, July 11, 2009

Riverside County awards contract to Tessera Solar and Optiflex Properties

HOUSTON, USA: Tessera Solar has been selected by Riverside County (California) to develop solar energy projects on county‐owned land at closed landfills and on undeveloped land adjacent to County airports.

Optiflex Properties & Development LLC (Optiflex), a real estate and technology development company, is partnering with Tessera Solar to co‐develop and co‐finance the projects. Optiflex specializes in developing viable solutions which are economically feasible, environmentally safe and financially sustainable.

The solar projects will utilize the SunCatcher power system manufactured by Tessera Solar’s sister company, Stirling Energy Systems, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. The selection results from the County’s request for proposal (RFP) issued earlier this spring.

Tessera Solar will develop as much as 500 MW of solar power on County of Riverside land. The company is currently analyzing the parcels of available land to determine the best location for the projects. Power produced from the projects will be sold to utilities and communities across the state of California to help achieve renewable portfolio standard requirements and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

“Tessera Solar is happy to partner with the County of Riverside for solar project development,” said Tessera Solar North America CEO Bob Lukefahr. “We commend the County for adopting our competitive solar solution on underutilized land which will also provide opportunities to area residents for construction and permanent jobs.”

Riverside County has excellent solar resources. On June 29, 2009 it was announced by Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, that the US Department of the Interior has targeted 202,295 acres of public lands in the eastern half of Riverside County as the largest of 24 solar energy study zones singled out for fast‐track development.

"Alternative energy is the policy of the US government, the state of California and this county," said Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley.

The SunCatcher system uses precision mirrors attached to a parabolic dish to concentrate the sun’s energy onto a high‐efficiency Stirling Engine. Each dish can generate up to 25,000 watts of power and has been certified by Sandia National Laboratories as having the highest sun‐to‐grid energy conversion in the world.

In addition to its efficiency and cost advantages, the SunCatcher uses less than 1 percent of the water required by competing solar thermal technologies.

The Riverside County announcement expands Tessera Solar’s portfolio of Southern California projects already in development. Imperial Valley ‐-- Solar Two, near El Centro, and Calico –- Solar One, near Barstow, are currently undergoing the joint permitting process by the California Energy Commission and Bureau of Land Management, and scheduled to begin construction by the end of next year.

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