The Most Solar Town in America

Nipton California is the most solar town in America

Welcome to Nipton, California – the most solar town in America.  The tiny municipality – just 20 population – sits on the border of California and Nevada, at the gateway to the Mojave Desert.

As you can see in the photograph above, there’s not much there except sagebrush… and solar panels!

Skyline Solar announced this week that it is installing a utility scale solar power plant in Nipton that will generate 85% of the town’s electricity needs – the highest percentage of solar electricity in the U.S.  The 80 kilowatt (kW) plant will use Skyline Solar’s High Gain Solar (HGS) solar system.

Skyline Solar utility scale plant

The Principal Administrator of Nipton, Gerald Freeman, observed:

“As the gateway community to the Mojave Desert, Nipton seeks to be a good steward of the environment. Sustainability is paramount to this endeavor.  It is with this in mind that we are extremely pleased to be utilizing the HGS 1000 as our primary source of energy. And the HGS upgradability is a very attractive option.”

Skyline Solar’s HGS system was selected for a number of reasons.  Its panels can generate 10x the energy per gram of silicon compared to traditional PV flat panels.  With other innovations, the amount of silicon needed to generate the same amount of solar electricity is reduced by 90%.

The panels installed at Nipton, California also can be easily upgraded, to prevent their becoming obsolete in the future.  As far as reliability, the HGS solar arrays use durable reflector materials and single-axis heliotropic tracking.

Skyline Solar is as exited as Nipton, California about the installation to create the most solar town in America.  CEO Bob MacDonald enthused:

“This is a significant milestone in the development of our company as we strive to bring scalable, capital-efficient solar energy to utility, government and commercial customers.  Our pre-engineered HGS system is ideal for large energy consumers. Nipton, California, a town now 85 percent powered by clean, renewable solar energy, is a shining example to the rest of the country of how even small communities can help drive America’s goal of energy independence.”

So, I’m wondering, which town in America will surpass Nipton in becoming the most solar town in America?  The more entries into the unofficial contest, the better!