U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu has announced the offer of a conditional commitment for a $359.1 million loan guarantee to Mesquite Solar 1 LLC to support the development of a photovoltaic project.
The 150 MW project is sponsored by Sempra Generation and will be located in Maricopa County, Ariz., approximately 45 miles west of Phoenix. According to the DOE and Sempra, Mesquite Solar 1 will be one of the first large-scale utility PV power plants in the U.S. to use U.S.-manufactured transformerless and liquid-cooled inverter technology, which allows for significant improvements in energy output, a decrease in operating costs and improved reliability.
