Dive Brief:

• MidAmerican Solar and SunPower have brought online the first 57-MW phase of the 579-MW Solar Star project in Southern California.
• MidAmerican Solar, which owns the photovoltaic project, expects it to be complete by 2016.
• Power from the project is sold to Southern California Edison (SCE) under a long-term contract. "Utility-scale solar power is a competitively priced renewable resource, and a key part of Southern California Edison's energy mix," said Stuart Hemphill, senior vice president of power supply for SCE.

Dive Insight:

At the start of the month, California had more than 3,000 MW of utility-scale solar on its system. The Solar Star project and others like it are under construction and will continue to remake the state's power supply in the next few years.