CEC Requesting Reliability Data from Tessera Solar

The California Energy Commission (CEC) requested that Tessera Solar LLC submit detailed logs on the reliability of its "Suncatcher" solar technology, potentially reflecting doubt about the effectiveness of the company's proposals. According to transcripts of a 20 September CEC hearing, the CEC Staff believed that Tessera Solar should be required to submit reliability data in order to be allowed to proceed with its Imperial Valley Solar project, which is proposed for over 6,000 acres of California Desert habitat. Tessera Solar is the same company that is also proposing to bulldoze another 4,600 acres of the Mojave Desert for the Calico Solar power project . Both the Calico Solar and Imperial Valley Solar projects would utilize the "Suncatcher" technology. Each Suncatcher resembles a giant satellite dish that would harness solar energy. This technology is not as tested as parabolic technology selected for other solar projects since the Suncatchers involve