Imperial Valley Solar Park Celebrates Inauguration - | News for Yuma, Imperial Valley, El Centro, AZ & CA

Imperial Valley Solar Park Celebrates Inauguration

Niland, CA- Next month 14,000 people living in homes in Niland and throughout Imperial Valley will be getting their electricity via sunlight thanks to a combined partnership between Sun Peak Solar and IID.

Friday morning, the 23 mega watt solar park celebrated a two year project.

David Rennie is CEO of Sun Peak Solar and says 99% of everything at the solar park was done by people who are local to the county.

He says nearly all of the 93 people who worked on site were Imperial County residents.  The project alone brought 250 jobs to the community and Friday he says is about the work they did.

For Rennie and those involved with the project solar energy is the way to go because it will provide an assured source of power for an estimated 30 years.

Nearly 100-thousand of these solar panels collect energy from the sun and then feed it to the substation next to it sending out power to thousands of Imperial Valley residents.

Once the switch is flipped the entire town of Niland will be the first solar sufficient community in the United States and the cost will be more effective for the people who live in there.  

Charles Hosken, the Chief Operating Officer for Sun Peak says "The sun is free were not polluting the environment at all. This is something with all the sunshine in the desert why not take advantage of it and that's what were doing."

After nearly two years of unemployment Evangeline McDonald an Imperial Valley resident received work last year from 5 Star Electric, a local subcontractor to Sun Peak Solar, and was able to purchase a home for her and her family.

She says, "This is the future, green energy. I think this is where it's going with our economy and our society and I think this is the best way to begin green energy."

Sun Peak Solar will be breaking ground on a second solar park just north of Niland in 6 months.