[Victorville, CA USA]

1 MegaWatt (MW) Concentrating PhotoVoltaic (CPV) plant built by SolFocus is the largest CPV installation in the Americas.

VVC POWERED BY CPV was the theme of the Grand Opening Celebration hosted by Victor Valley College (VVC) and SolFocus, Inc. on site Tuesday, May 25, 2010. I covered the project details earlier in VVC installing SolFocus CPV Solar Plant.

Celebrating their first 1 MW CPV installation was a milestone day for SolFocus. I was happy to see SolFocus Chairman Gary Conley in attendance.

As the event unfolded with welcoming remarks from VVC President Dr. Christopher O’Hearn, the National Anthem by the VVC Singers, and comments by Board of Trustees President Angela Valles, I was struck by the enthusiasm and optimism the VVC leadership had in the solar plant and their plans to integrate the site into their sustainability curriculum. I had a glimpse of how climate change can be addressed at the community level and thought countless more projects and events like the VVC Solar Plant were needed across the country and around the globe to create awareness and mitigate the impact of global warning.

Here is my lengthy virtual VVC POWERED BY CPV Grand Opening Celebration Picasa Slideshow with CPV Plant press tour.

“VVC unveils innovative 1-megawatt solar plant” by Natasha Lindstrom for the Victorville Daily Press covered the event and captured a video with her iPhone 3GS.

I’m stingy with praise so I hope the following statement has all the more impact. I thought the event was well planned and executed so a round of kudos are in order for VVC and SolFocus.

Now if only Ms. Lombardi had investigated my comment on the SolFocus module photo shown in “Bright spot for one California college: A solar farm” at the CNET news.com Green Tech Blog. I guess everyone isn’t passionate about the details?