Studies by the University of California economics department found that two large-scale solar project would inject a total of $732 million into the San Luis Obispo County, Calif., economy.

The two plants, 250-megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch and the 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm, are being considered by the county now. The projects, when complete, will provide power for roughly 260,000 homes in California.

The solar installations would be the first utility-scale solar projects in the county, according to Michael Manchak, CEO of San Luis Obispo County’s Economic Vitality Corp.

“There is no current major solar facility in the county. There’s a lot of distributed solar, but there’s no utility scale,” he said. “We encourage and support these projects.”

The county is ideally located between Los Angeles and San Francisco, Manchak said.

“It’s fairly large geographically with a small population. It’s in the middle of the two largest metro areas in the state,” he said.

The sites are also good for solar because of the clean air, desert climate and altitude, according to Manchak. “The grid runs through that area,” he said. Having grid access will reduce the need for new transmission lines.

The projects would also bring construction jobs to the county. The study showed that the Topaz project, which would be developed by First Solar, would employ, on average, 400 people during its construction phase, and at peak construction, could employ a total of 540 people. After completion, which is projected for 2014, the plant would employ 15 people. First Solar said it expects to start construction on the project this summer.

The California Valley Solar Ranch, which is being built by SunPower, is slated to start construction this summer and would create 350 jobs. It will be installed over two and a half years, according to the company.

The county’s Planning Commission will hold its first hearing on the Topaz project March 31, according to The San Luis Obispo Tribune. The SunPower project was already approved by the commission, but will be heard by the county’s Board of Supervisors in April, Manchak said.

Pictured: The proposed site for the California Valley Solar Ranch. Image courtesy of SunPower.