Tessera Solar’s bid to develop a 145 megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Colorado’s San Luis Valley continues to rumble forward.

On Dec. 6, Saguache County held a public hearing regarding the plant, addressing concerns of residents in the area. County commissioners originally planned to vote on the project later in December, but will now hold another hearing.

“The hearing will actually be continued,” said Tessera spokesperson Janette Coates. “This is part of that process for the county and community.”

Chief among residents’ concerns are the noise that the SunCatchers planned for the site would make. Tessera’s SunCatchers look like television satellite antennas. They use a reflective mirror to concentrate sunlight on a Stirling engine, which turns a generator to produce electricity.

Already Tessera reduced the proposed size of the plant from 200 MWs to 145 MWs to address residents’ noise concerns.

Coates said there wasn’t necessarily any protest to the plan, making such changes is part of the project review process, and the company will continue with plans to move ahead on the project.

However, reporters from The Crestone Eagle, a local newspaper, visited Tessera’s first installation, which is located in Arizona to witness the SunCatchers in action.

“We measured the noise levels outside the fence line because we were not allowed to take sound level measurements within the SunCatcher field. How loud is it? Pretty loud—75 decibels outside the fence is equivalent to noise from a busy, 4-lane highway,” the article states.

If allowed to go forward with construction, the site would—for now—be home to the largest solar installation outside of California. In that state, Tessera is working to develop the 709 MW Imperial Valley Solar project.

The Imperial Valley project has been approved in California, but Tessera is now working to find financing for the project, before it can break ground.

“Stay tuned,” she said.

Image courtesy of Tessera.