Searchlight, NV might soon have more solar panels per square mile than people, thanks to a long-term PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) between American Capital Energy and NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NVE).  The power will be produced by a 20-MW solar PV plant being constructed near the town of Searchlight, NV.

Southern Nevada’s existing solar array at Nellis Air Force Base is currently the largest operating solar PV plant in the United States. The new project, expected to be completed in 2010, is larger in scale and will employ 120+ people during the construction phase alone. Details of the PPA were not readily available, but this is great news to Nevada residents who have become frustrated with their state’s reluctance to adopt renewable energy reform. Despite the  great potential to produce solar power in Nevada, inadequate transmission lines connecting the state’s northern and southern power grids have held back development in the past. NV Energy reported that ALL of the power generated by the production facility will go to consumers in their southern service territory.