The Valley Electric Association (VEA) is constructing a solar PV power plant in the Mojave Desert town of Pahrump, west of Las Vegas near the Nevada border with California. VEA selected SolarWorld as the PV module supplier for the project.

Under terms of the agreement, SolarWorld will deliver 51,562 pieces of 340W, 72-cell PV modules for the project from its expanding factory in Oregon. The project will mark one of the biggest U.S. utility projects that SolarWorld has supplied.

Bombard Renewable Energy is conducting engineering, procurement and constructing for the project, and it selected solar panels, inverters, racking and other materials manufactured in the United States. The project is expected to be completed by this summer.

VEA and Bombard have collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect Mojave Desert tortoises inhabiting the 80-acre project site in northern Pahrump. Aside from design and construction innovations, resulting measures will include research and monitoring to gauge the impact of solar installations on plants, animals and birds.

“SolarWorld applauds the multiple ways that this project will fulfill the interests of sustainability,” said Mukesh Dulani, U.S. president of SolarWorld. “First, of course, the VEA is tapping the abundant energy falling from the sun onto its market territory. Second, it’s taking extra steps to conserve the surrounding desert habitat. Finally, it’s undertaking a system built of domestically produced goods, which not only avert needless shipping emissions but also embody the high labor, environmental and quality standards of American producers.”