Solana, a solar power plant currently under construction, is set to be completed in 2013. It will be the world’s largest solar power plant when it's finally online. The 280 megawatt (MW) concentrated solar power project will use parabolic troughs filled with molten salt, which when heated by the sun, will be used in a heat exchanger to generate electricity. The Arizona Public Service Co. announced the project in 2008. The project is being built by Spanish company Abengoa Solar Inc. and will start generating energy as soon as mid-2013.

The solar installation, near Gila Bend, Arizona, got two huge boosts recently. First, President Obama announced, on July 3, a $1.45 billion federal-loan guarantee to help build the site. A few days later, Solana passed a regulatory hurdle when it received approval from the Maricopa County board of supervisors.

The loan guarantee was made under a Department of Energy program. President Obama said, "After years of watching companies build things and create jobs overseas, it's good news that we've attracted a company to our shores to build a plant and create jobs here in America."

During construction, the project will create 1,500 jobs and 85 to 100 permanent highly skilled technician jobs. Despite Abengoa being a Spanish company, Obama also stated that under the terms of the loan guarantee, more than 70 percent of the construction components and products for Solano are being manufactured in the United States.

Manufacturing for the giant, 3,100 acre power plant, will create additional jobs in the United States. For instance, the White House said that at least two new assembly factories will provide the 900,000 mirrored troughs for the project. The factories will create an additional 150 jobs.

Solano will produce enough electricity to power 70,000 United States households. Since the system uses molten salt, which is an excellent retainer of heat, it contains solar thermal storage, which allows the system to produce electricity even when it’s cloudy or for about six hours of power after dark.

Before breaking ground, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has to approve Solana’s protection permit, according to the Phoenix Business Journal. The project could receive that approval as soon as October, allowing construction of the site to begin in November.