Solar Panel Plans in San Diego Dimmed

San Diego may be the land of sunshine, but it will no longer be the land of solar for French solar company Soitec. Soitec shut down its Rancho Bernardo assembly line and is looking to sell off related assets, as its two local solar farms never came to light.

The Department of Energy had underwritten a $25 million grant as Soitec’s concentrated solar technology showed promise and efficiency during testing. But now, since the U.S. market of concentrated solar never came to fruition, the company chose to notify its investors and cut its losses.

A land-use consultant, Patrick Brown, says Soitec hopes to sell of the rights and permits to another developer to create two projects in southeast San Diego– Rugged Solar and Terra del Sol.

On the bright side (no pun intended), the Department of Energy gained valuable information from this trial test that it will utilize in future projects. Although the plans for the Soitec have dimmed, Connect Media shared how solar panels are becoming a government standard in San Diego.