According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the United States solar industry continues to set records. SEIA predicted that the country’s total installed solar capacity would more than quadruple by 2030, with annual installations reaching 45 GW. This growth has been driven by declining costs of solar technology, favorable government policies, and increasing demand for renewable energy sources.

FirmoGraphs monitors the lifecycle of large renewable projects from the date they enter utility regulator records to the start of construction and commercial operation. Data comes from industry news, and filings are from utility regulators in all states, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In addition, we apply Business Intelligence tools to better analyze these projects for interested parties like U.S infrastructure consultants, engineers, contractors, and equipment suppliers.

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Top 5 solar projects beginning construction in 2023

FirmoGraphs is tracking more than 100 very large solar projects starting construction in 2023 with a total estimated value of nearly $40 billion. These are the number of projects per state.

Source: FirmoGraphs Mega Mart; reproduced from Qlik Sense Enterprise

Listed below are 5 of the largest solar projects we are tracking. 

Project Name	Owner	Solar Project Capacity (MW)	Project Value (Million $)	State
Sawtooth Energy Center Project	Boulevard Associates, LLC	1,000	$1,720	Nevada
Smoky Valley Solar Project	CG Western Renewables III, LLC	1,000	$1,000	Nevada
Ditat Deus Solar Project	Ditat Deus Solar LLC	650	$1,000	Arizona
Beatty Energy Center Project	NextEra Energy Resources, LLC	500	$860	Nevada
Sleepy Orange Solar Project	Sleepy Orange Solar, LLC	500	$860	Nevada

*FirmoGraphs Estimates the value of the project based on 2021 Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

Project Summaries and Details

Sawtooth Energy Center Project

Boulevard Associates, LLC submitted filings on April 27, 2021, to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission for the proposed Sawtooth Energy Center Project in Nye County. The project comprises a solar energy generating facility with 1,000 MW capacity and up to 1,000 MW energy storage facility. It will also consist of an on-site substation, a 230 kV generation-tie line, and associated facilities. The construction will commence on October 1, 2023, and will be in service on December 31, 2025. According to the 2021 Annual Technology Baseline data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, solar projects with co-located energy storage will cost $1,721 per KW. Based on this value, FirmoGraphs estimates the project will cost $1.72 billion to build.

Smoky Valley Solar Project

CG Western Renewables III, LLC submitted filings on April 29, 2021, to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission for the Smoky Valley Solar Project, approximately 5,128 acres northwest of Silver Peak in Esmeralda County. The project is a 1,000 MWac solar generation facility and an associated battery energy storage system. The facility’s construction will commence in the third quarter of 2023 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, costing $1 billion. 

Ditat Deus Solar Project

Ditat Deus Solar LLC submitted filings on January 5, 2023, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the proposed Ditat Deus Solar Project on 5,946 acres in Arizona. The Project is a 650 MWac solar power generating facility and up to 350 MW of battery storage. It will also include an 11.2-mile 230 kV generation tie line from the project substation to the Sun Valley 230 kV substation. Construction will commence in June 2023 and the project is expected to enter commercial operation on December 1, 2025. According to the 2021 Annual Technology Baseline, data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, solar projects with co-located energy storage will cost $1,623 per kW. Based on this value, FirmoGraphs estimates the Project will cost $1 billion.

Beatty Energy Center Project

Boulevard Associates, LLC submitted filings on May 28, 2021, to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission for the proposed Beatty Energy Center Project on approximately 6,515 acres in Nye County. The Project is a battery energy center consisting of an 800 MW solar energy generating facility, an 800 MW battery energy storage system, an approximately 2-mile-long 138 or 230 kV generation-tie line, and associated facilities. Construction will commence on October 1, 2023, and is expected to be in service on December 31, 2025. Based on the 2021 Annual Technology Baseline data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, solar projects with co-located energy storage will cost $1,721 per kW. Based on this value, FirmoGraphs estimates the project will cost $1.38 billion.

Sleepy Orange Solar Project

Sleepy Orange Solar, LLC submitted filings on December 23, 2021, to the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada for the proposed Sleepy Orange Solar Project in Lyon County. The project comprises a solar electric generating facility with a 500 MW capacity and a 500 MW battery energy storage system. It will also include approximately 3.75 miles of 345 kV generation-tie line to the Fort Churchill Substation and ancillary facilities, including access roads, an on-site substation, and an operation and maintenance facility. Construction will start on June 24, 2023, and the project is expected to begin commercial operation on December 23, 2024. According to the 2021 Annual Technology Baseline data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, solar projects with co-located energy storage will cost $1,721 per kW. Based on this value, FirmoGraphs estimates the project will cost $860 million.

Construction Date Estimation

Only some solar projects from the news and filings from utility regulators have construction date details. However, based on more than 1,000 solar projects with reliable data captured by FirmoGraphs, we came up with an estimation of the project’s construction commencement and completion dates.

Project Capacity Group	Average Days from Date First Record Project to  Date Goal Start Project	Average Days from Date Goal Start Project to Date Goal Finish Project (Construction Duration)
200 to 400 MW	444 (14 months and 24 days)	612 (20 months and 12 days)
400 to 600 MW	615 (20 months and 15 days)	649 (21 months and 20 days)
More than 600 MW	753 (25 months and 3 days)	746 (24 months and 26 days)

FirmoGraphs estimates that the construction of solar projects with 200-400 MW capacity will commence 444 days after the date the project is first recorded by utility regulators and will be completed after 612 days. The same logic is applied to the other group of solar projects. Using this estimation data, interested parties like U.S infrastructure contractors can plan for the new solar projects ahead of time.