Solar Demonstration Zone will help create clean energy jobs for Nevadans

December 17, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC –Nevada Senator Harry Reid today announced $50 million in funding for a Solar Demonstration Zone at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) that will create clean energy jobs and help make solar energy more cost competitive in Nevada.  The Solar Demonstration Zone will serve as a proving ground to test innovative solar technologies, bringing some of the world’s leading solar companies to Nevada.  
 
“Nevada’s burgeoning clean energy industry and out-of-work Nevadans received a big boost this week,” Reid said.  “This federal funding will allow cutting-edge solar energy technologies to be tested and developed right here in Nevada, the leading state for solar and clean energy production.  This critical funding will help ensure that Nevada leads the nation in clean energy jobs and that solar energy projects choose to come to Nevada.”
 
In addition to being the nation’s premier site for testing innovative solar technologies, the Solar Demonstration Zone will be used to gather data for potential investors in large-scale solar projects in Nevada and around the country.  

The $50 million announcement comes on the heels of yesterday’s announcement that the Secretaries of Energy and the Interior have identified seven other sites in Nevada for inclusion in a proposed program to improve and accelerate permitting for commercial solar energy development.  The seven zones identified in the study are: Amargosa Valley, Delamar Valley, Dry Lake, Dry Lake North Valley, East Mormon Mountain, Gold Point and Miller’s. Together, the zones comprise nearly 200,000 acres, which could produce several thousand megawatts of clean power.