Taiwan solar panels to fuel US green city project

Want China Times, CNA 2013-11-09

Solar panels in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, June 20. (Photo/Pan Chien-chih)

A project to build a 4-megawatt, 16 acre solar power plant in the Californian city of Lancaster in the United States will use solar panels made in Taiwan, one of the developers said Wednesday.

Under the solar farm project, some 14,000 ground-mounted solar panels will be installed on vacant city land, with the goal of generating enough power for 550 homes.

The project was developed jointly by renewable energy company US Topco Energy, which is owned by the Taiwanese firm Topco Scientific, and America's No. 1 full-service solar power provider SolarCity.

Joshua Chang, chairman of US Topco, said he decided to use Taiwanese-made solar panels because he is from Taiwan and has confidence in Taiwanese suppliers.

"Topco is committed to helping power the world with renewable energy, and the City of Lancaster has done more than any city in the nation toward this goal," Chang said in a news release.

The southern Californian city of Lancaster has more than 300 days of sunshine per year, which makes it one of the three sunniest places in the world and an ideal location for the development of new solar energy technologies.

"This project is yet another crucial step toward our goal of becoming America's first truly Net-Zero city," Lancaster mayor Rex Parris said in a statement.

Lancaster has been working with SolarCity since 2010 to bring solar power to more than 300 homeowners, schools and churches across the city. It partnered with US Topco in 2011 on the development of solar projects.