A role for Sandia in solar plan

Arizona company plans to build plant with lab technology

Jun 26, 2008 - Albuquerque Journal

The most ambitious alternative energy project that would feed a proposed cross-country power line in Southern California is a gigantic, $400 million solar plant that will use technology partially developed at Sandia National Laboratories.

Stirling Energy Systems Inc. of Phoenix has said it plans to build 12,000 solar dishes, each four-stories tall, near El Centro, about 100 miles east of San Diego.

Stirling executive Bruce Osborn, in a previous interview with the Journal, said the company has enjoyed a long-term research and development relationship with Sandia National Laboratories.

The four-story-tall solar dishes were initially developed by McDonnell Douglas in the 1980s and since then ...