Enormous PV projects have bloomed across southwestern US deserts over the past half-decade, creating lucrative development and EPC opportunities for companies like First Solar and SunPower in states like California, Nevada and Arizona.
In the past year alone, three projects larger than 500MW – Desert Sunlight, Topaz and Solar Star – have been brought online, all in California.
To help maintain a steady stream of such projects, the US Bureau of Land Management in 2012 approved its Western Solar Plan, aimed at “spurring development” of large-scale solar in six sunny southwestern states.
The
