page_title: Solar power in the United States
section_title: Selected list of plants
hierarchical_section_title: Solar power in the United States / Concentrated solar power (CSP) / Selected list of plants
caption_attribution_description: English: The 250MW Mojave Solar Project near Harper Lake in the settlement called Lockhart in California. The project uses parabolic trough technology.
context_page_description: Solar power in the United States includes utility-scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics.
  As of the end of 2019, the United States had over 71.3 gigawatts of installed photovoltaic capacity. In 2018, utility scale solar power generated 66.6 terawatt-hours, 1.66% of total U.S. electricity. During the same time period total solar generation, including estimated small scale photovoltaic generation, was 96.1 TWh, 2.30% of total U.S. electricity. In terms of total cumulative installed capacity, by year end 2017 the United States ranked 2nd in the world behind China.
  In 2016, 39% of all new electricity generation capacity in the country came from solar, more than any other source and ahead of natural gas. By 2015, solar employment had overtaken oil and gas as well as coal employment in the United States. In 2016, more than 260,000 Americans were employed in the solar industry.
  The United States conducted much early research in photovoltaics and concentrated solar power.
context_section_description: The United States pioneered solar tower and trough technologies. A number of different solar thermal technologies are in use in the U.S.:
  The largest solar thermal power plant in the world is the 392 MW Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, in California. It deploys 173,500 heliostats each with two mirrors focusing solar energy on boilers located on centralized solar power towers. The facility opened on February 13, 2014.
  The Solana Generating Station is a solar power plant near Gila Bend, Arizona, about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Phoenix, completed in 2013. When commissioned it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world and the first U.S. solar plant with molten salt thermal energy storage. Built by the Spanish company Abengoa Solar, it has a total capacity of 280 megawatts (MW), which is enough to power 70,000 homes while avoiding around 475,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Its name is the Spanish term for "sunny spot".
  The Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center is a hybrid 75 megawatt (MW) parabolic trough solar energy plant that is owned by Florida Power & Light Company (FPL). The solar plant is a component of the 3,705 MW Martin County Power Plant, which is currently the single largest fossil fuel burning power plant in the United States. Completed at the end of 2010, it is located in western Martin County, Florida, just north of Indiantown.
  The Mojave Solar Project is a 280 MW solar thermal power facility in the Mojave Desert in California, which was completed in December 2014.
  The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project is a 110 MW solar thermal power project near Tonopah, about 230 miles (370 km) northwest of Las Vegas, which was completed in September 2015.
  The rapidly falling price of PV solar had led to several projects being abandoned or converted to PV technology. Blythe Solar Power Project converted to a PV project, Rice Solar Energy Project was put on indefinite hold, Palen Solar Project tried to convert to PV but its permits were denied, Hidden Hills Solar Project was suspended in 2013 and later canceled. No major CSP plants remain under construction in the United States.
caption: Mojave Solar Project near Harper Lake in California with parabolic troughs in their stow position
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