Texas just got an enormous 1.1-million-panel solar farm Leave a comment

Renewable developer Clearway Energy Group has completed a 452-megawatt (MW) solar farm in West Texas – and it’s huge. 

The $660 million Texas Solar Nova solar farm, completed in two phases, is in Kent County, Texas. It’s built on around 5,000 acres of land and features over 1.1 million solar panels. It will generate an estimated $5.4 million in property taxes and wages to be paid in the first year.

Texas Solar Nova will generate enough electricity to power over 190,000 homes annually. It’s got an offtake agreement with telecoms giant Verizon, and agreements with auto component maker Toyota Boshoku and Swedish bearing and seal maker SKF to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs). Both Toyota Boshoku and SKF have 12-year agreements for RECs.

Verizon is aiming to source the equivalent of 50% of its total annual electricity consumption with renewable energy by 2025, and achieve net zero by 2035.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) ranks Texas second in the US for the amount of solar installed (MW), and it’s expected to bump California out of the No 1 spot in the next five years. However, despite being a solar and wind leader, it still produces much more gas and oil.

Read more: Here’s how solar and wind kept the Texas grid online in 2023’s brutal summer heat

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