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Biggest Solar-Power Plant in America

In 2007, Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada completed construction of America’s largest solar photovoltaic power park. The solar park will generate 14 megawatts of electricity annually with more than 72,000 panels installed. The solar park took only six months to construct. Military officials say it will provide over 25 percent of electricity consumed at the base.

SunPower, a solar-power start-up based in Silicon Valley, partnered with MMA Renewable Ventures, a subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, (NYSE: MMA) and the Nevada Power Corporation to build the solar energy park in Nevada. SunPower recently said it would ramp up solar-cell production by 150 percent this year, according to a new report in PV Tech.

SunPower anticipates similar growth rates in 2009 and 2010, which it says it can sustain because it has secure contracts for polysilicon through 2010.

World’s Largest Power Plants