A Big Solar Deal for California (broadcast Friday, February 27th, 2009)

Mirrors reflect sunlight to a boiler mounted on a central tower, where steam is produced. photo courtesy Edison International

Earlier this month, Southern California Edison announced a deal with solar power plant maker BrightSource to install and operate solar power plants totaling 1300 megawatts in the deserts outside Los Angeles. The first of the seven solar thermal facilities covered by the deal would begin operation by 2013, if regulators approve the project and construction goes as planned.

Southern California Edison has called the agreement "the world’s largest solar deal." 1300 megawatts would power nearly 845,000 homes, the utility company said. The facilities use a design often called a 'power tower,' in which thousands of small ground-mounted mirrors called heliostats reflect sunlight onto a boiler atop a tower to produce high temperature steam. We'll find out more about the project and its prospects.