Company plans world's largest solar energy farm in California

• The world's biggest solar-power plant -- that's what Stirling Energy Systems could soon be building in California's Mojave Desert.
• The Phoenix-based upstart last week won a major commitment from Southern California Edison (SCE.PB).
• For 20 years, the utility will buy all the electricity that Stirling can generate at a 500-megawatt (MW) solar-energy farm near Victorville.
• Previously, the most ambitious plan for solar power was the 12-MW Solarpark Gut Erlasse, near Arnstein, Germany.
• Each 37-foot-diameter dish will track the sun and focus its heat rays on an oil-barrel-size contraption suspended in front, like the antenna on a satellite-TV dish.
• If local power lines can be upgraded to handle even more juice, Stirling Energy could enlarge its farm to 850 MW, and SoCal Edison would take all of that, too.
• The deal could rake in upwards of $90 million a year for Stirling Energy, once the solar dishes are generating 500 MW.
• For SoCal Edison, already the largest U.S. purchaser of renewable energy, the 500-MW facility will more than double the 354 MW of solar power it tapped in 2004 -- and add almost 20% to its total of 2,588 MW of renewable energy sources, including 1,021 MW of wind power.
• Most solar-cell panels harvest only 10% to 15% of the sun's energy, although 20% efficiency has been achieved with new technology developed by HelioVolt and SunPower.
• HelioVolt, an Austin (Tex.) startup, makes coatings that can be applied to ordinary roofing and siding materials, transforming a building's exterior into a solar generator.
• "Our dilemma has always been how to get costs down," says Osborn.
• "Our system is a really good match, providing peak power at times of peak load," notes Osborn.