First Solar’s utility-scale PV solar projects are providing good jobs for U.S. Armed Forces veterans returning from combat overseas. Case in point: the 550 megawatt Topaz Solar Farms project in San Luis Obispo County, Calif., which First Solar is constructing for MidAmerican Solar. Topaz Construction Manager Raymond Christian, a former U.S. Marine, has a number of veterans on his crew who returned from tours in Iraq to a challenging job market at home.

While solar power generation begins with photovoltaic modules harvesting the sun’s rays and turning those photons into electrons, it’s the inverters that efficiently convert that captured energy into user-friendly electricity. The two devices represent the fundamental building blocks of any grid-tied solar system. When First Solar engineers and constructs a multi-hundred-megawatt utility-scale plant, it must procure hundreds of the sizeable power electronics units from partner companies that are capable of consistently providing a high-quality, reliable product and world-class service. For game-changing projects like Sarnia II, Agua Caliente, and Antelope Valley Solar Ranch, the supplier of choice has been SMA America, a division of market-leading SMA Solar Technology.

Cattle have recently been added to the workforce of over 500 construction workers at the 550 megawatt Topaz Solar Farms project in San Luis Obispo County, Calif., that First Solar is building for MidAmerican Solar. The bovine contingent, a hand-selected herd on loan from a local rancher, is charged with vegetation management on several thousand acres of project and stewardship land, helping to reduce fire hazard in the hot, dry summer months. The approach, which is both traditional and unconventional, aligns with First Solar’s commitment to sustainable development: avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating environmental impacts.  First Solar worked closely with local and national conservation groups to ensure Topaz addressed all environmental concerns in developing and constructing the project. Sheep grazing is also being considered as a similarly benign vegetation control method during the wetter winter growing season.