A former open expanse of desert in the Antelope Valley is now home to the largest solar photovoltaic installation in the world. The Solar Star project, owned by BHE Renewables, a division of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, is fully operational on 3,200 acres straddling the line between Los Angeles and Kern counties near Rosamond in the foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains. The more than 1.7 million solar modules produce 579 megawatts of power distributed through a purchase agreement with Southern California Edison Corp., a subsidiary of Edison International in Rosemead. The installation began putting power on the grid in phases in late 2013 and reached full power in July. Bryan Whitcomb, general manager of Solar Star, said that between the Antelope Valley installation and two others that BHE operates, the company is responsible for more than 8 percent of the solar energy generated in the United States. “We are proud to play our part in renewable energy,” Whitcomb said. “BHE owns a lot of coal (plants) and is retiring those units and making investments in renewable energy.” BHE also operates the 500-megawatt Topaz Solar Farms in San Luis Obispo County and the Agua Caliente project with nearly 5 million modules producing 290 megawatts in Arizona’s Yuma County. The Solar Star project was originally owned by San Jose’s SunPower Corp., which sold it to BHE in January 2013. Construction started the following month. The Antelope Valley, which includes part of the Mojave Desert, is suitable for solar projects for a variety of reasons, starting with the high solar radiance and available open land that the solar panels minimally impact, Whitcomb said. Even more important is the close proximity of substations transmitting power to the L.A. Basin. “Being close to substations is good for a project of this size because the cost of transmitting over a great distance is not good,” Whitcomb added. BHE has four employees managing the site and contracts with SunPower for an additional 18 employees. – Mark R. Madler