February was an important month for solar energy in California. The largest solar power plant in the world, Desert Sunlight, opened in Riverside County. The 550 megawatt solar farm will provide power to 160,000 homes and 400,000 people. The project was funded by a $1.5 billion federal loan guarantee, and it helped propel the momentum for large-scale solar industry.  

In 2014, California alone out-competed the rest of the country combined by generating 9.9 million megawatt hours, or more than 5%, of its utility-scale electricity from solar power (U.S. Energy Information Administration). Since EIA’s figure excludes smaller scale residential and business solar panels, Breaking Energy’s Pete Danko estimated last year’s solar power generation to be 7.4%, making it second to hydropower generation by dams. The ongoing drought in California led to a 46% drop in hydroelectric power generation. The increase in California’s solar generation, however, made up for 83% of the loss in hydroelectric production, even with its limited availability to the day time.   

California continues to pave the way for solar power with state policies, along with a renewable portfolio standard in place. By the end of 2020, the state is expected to meet and possibly exceed generating one-third of its power from renewable sources, and aims to reach half by 2030.

Read more and watch a video of the plant’s opening in this article.