From The Workbench - Alternative + Renewable Energy Blog Valuable information for do-it-yourselfers interested in the latest in alternative + renewable energy

I can’t tell you how much this makes my ENTIRE day week month year.  Waking up and finding information like this is what makes this job amazing, and it’s projects like THIS that should make the whole world smile.

So here we go, while still in the planning stages of development, this new solar energy project will be a world record once complete.  Staged in Gujarat, India, when it is finalized it will be an intergrated “solar city” that is capable of producing 5 GIGAWATTS of energy.  No that is not a typo, 5 Gigawatts.  Wow.

According to the article I just read:

“The facility is expected to cost Rs 200-billion (approximately $475-million) and will produce all raw materials and manufacture all panels on site. Hence ‘integrated Solar City’. This is expected to reduce costs so that the power produced at the site will cost about Rs 4 ($0.10) per (unspecified) unit. It has not been disclosed whether the project would employ solar photovoltaic or solar thermal technology.”

At 5 times the size of the current largest solar power project, this thing will be an absolute beast.  The great news is that India is currently one of the most populous and power-intensive countries in the world; this project could cut a significant chunk out of their energy bill and offset the use to a steep degree.  Just how big of a project could this really turn out to be?  How about trying this on for size:  The current largest solar project being developed in the Mojave Desert is only capable of 900 megawatts.  One more time, this new one in India will be capable of 5 GIGAWATTS.  Wow.  Well done world.