Four solar photovoltaic (PV) plants located in San Bernardino have been commissioned and will be selling electricity to Southern California Edison (SCE). The plants, which are being operated by Sustainable Power Group, have a generating capacity of 7.8 megawatts (MW) and will reduce carbon emissions by over 10,000 tons per year.

According to a press release, the new plants are made up of 25,920 solar modules that were produced by Canadian Solar, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of PV panels. Each panel provides 300 watts of generating capacity. The plants were constructed as part of SCE’s California Renewable Energy Small Tariff (CREST) program, which is dedicated to the development of smaller, utility​-scale solar energy systems.

The construction of these plants is part of a larger trend that has been taking place in the solar industry, which has seen utility companies move away from massive solar plants. Such power stations require enormous amounts of land and capital investment to build. For example, the Ivanpah Solar Generating Station near the Nevada border had a nine-figure price tag and took years to construct.

The benefits of smaller installations is that they can be built and commissioned in a period of months rather than years. Their small size means they can be constructed closer to cities, which cuts down on the amount of transmission infrastructure that developers need to build to send electricity back to the city.

If you’ve been considering switching to solar power, keep in mind that there are many rebates for solar that allow you to save considerably on your energy expenses. For more information, contact West Coast Solar today.