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January 12, 2008
Ausra plans Las Vegas solar factory
Ausra plans Las Vegas solar factory - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:
Solar technology developer Ausra Inc. said Thursday it is building a factory in the Nevada desert that will turn out equipment for large-scale solar thermal farms.
Palo Alto-based Ausra said the Las Vegas facility will create the components used by solar facilities in the sunny Southwest, including a farm Ausra wants to build in San Luis Obispo County.
In November, Ausra said it inked a deal with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for 177 megawatts of solar power from the San Luis Obispo plant, which it said should begin producing by 2010.
Ausra's power plants drive steam turbines with sunshine. Locally manufactured solar concentrators made of steel and glass focus sunlight to boil water, generating high-pressure steam that drives conventional turbine generators. New thermal energy storage systems using pressurized water and low cost materials will provide for on-demand generation day and night.
Earlier this year the company received more than $40 million in its first round of funding from Khosla Ventures and from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which both have offices in Menlo Park.
Posted by Sun at January 12, 2008 09:06 PM