The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is a 550-megawatt (MWAC) fixed-tilt photovoltaic power station approximately north of Desert Center, California, United States, in the Mojave Desert. It was made by the US thin-film manufacturer First Solar but now has split ownership between NextEra Energy Resources, Clearway Energy, and California Public Employee's Retirement System (CalPERS). It 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 as of fall 2015.Goldenstein, Taylor ( 9 February 2015) "Huge solar farm opens in California: Enough energy for 160,000 homes" Los Angeles Times.FirstSolar.com Desert Sunlight Solar Farm

Project details 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 Desert Sunlight Solar Farm was expanded with battery energy storage systems (BESS) in 2022 and 2024. Desert Sunlight Battery Energy Storage System, also known as Sunlight Storage I, was the first phase of BESS that added 230 MW of 4-hour storage to the facility and became operational in 2022. Sunlight Storage II added an additional 300 MW of 4-hour storage the facility and became operational in 2024. The combined total of the two storage facilities is 530 MW of 4-hour storage, or 2,120 MWh. Both storage facilities were built within the fence line of the original solar facility and therefore caused minimal new environmental impacts.

Electricity production

+Total Facility Generation(Annual Sum from Both Units Below) Year Total Annual MW·h 2013 104,301 2014 1,020,905 2015 1,286,763 2016 1,346,282 2017 1,321,129 2018 1,344,841 Average (2015–2018) 1,324,754

+Generation (MW·h) of Desert Sunlight 250, LLC Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total 2013 12,877 15,657 28,534 2014 21,773 27,207 34,901 41,461 39,400 43,829 51,572 39,497 46,360 46,364 46,793 34,333 473,490 2015 40,399 47,894 56,371 59,569 60,775 57,715 58,348 58,787 39,097 47,562 45,791 41,633 613,941 2016 39,151 50,933 55,135 54,198 63,118 59,008 61,051 57,526 53,062 50,947 43,476 36,137 623,742 2017 25,225 28,175 52,539 55,354 69,598 75,424 68,750 63,536 59,329 54,655 33,586 32,031 618,201 2018 28,722 40,501 46,310 57,894 69,784 75,188 64,990 65,442 61,950 48,809 33,573 26,709 619,921

+Generation (MW·h) of Desert Sunlight 300, LLC Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total 2013 10,015 32,709 33,043 75,767 2014 32,312 34,615 44,998 45,876 43,733 47,205 45,698 44,642 66,531 51,571 52,960 37,274 547,415 2015 45,802 52,966 60,742 64,541 61,367 63,147 63,620 63,517 44,398 53,467 51,543 47,712 672,822 2016 44,903 58,492 61,875 60,223 74,220 70,241 72,661 67,907 61,623 58,041 50,542 41,812 722,540 2017 28,682 32,036 59,740 62,940 79,137 85,761 78,172 72,243 67,460 62,146 38,189 36,421 702,928 2018 33,645 47,361 54,154 67,699 81,604 87,922 75,998 76,527 72,443 57,076 39,259 31,232 724,920

See also

Topaz Solar Farm Photovoltaics List of photovoltaic power stations

References