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585.9 MW Solar operating in San Luis Obispo, CA
585.9 MW
Nameplate Capacity
5
Generators
units
Solar Photovoltaic
Technology
2013
Operating Since
Coordinates
35.4056, -120.0686
County
San Luis Obispo, CA
Nearby Plants
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Owner data does not fully agree across sources.
EIA typically reports the operating utility, while GEM resolves to the financial owner or parent corporation. Both can be correct.
| Field | EIA | GEM | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Topaz Solar Farms LLC | First Solar | — |
| Owner(s) | Topaz Solar Farms LLC | BHE Solar LLC | Berkshire Hathaway Energy |
| Status | Operating | operating | — |
GEM identifies the owner as BHE Solar LLC
This entity is not yet in the GEM ownership database — chain unavailable.
Topaz Solar Farms is a 550 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power station in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Construction on the project began in November 2011 and ended in November 2014. It is one of the world's largest solar farms. The $2.5 billion project includes 9 million CdTe photovoltaic modules based on thin-film technology, manufactured by U.S. company First Solar. The company also built, operates and maintains the project for BHE Renewables, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Pacific Gas and Electric will buy the electricity under a 25-year power purchase agreement. According to First Solar, it created about 400 construction jobs.
Read more on WikipediaTopaz Solar Farm is a 585.9 MW solar photovoltaic power plant located in San Luis Obispo County, California. The plant, which began operating in 2013, is owned and operated by Topaz Solar Farms LLC. It consists of 5 generators utilizing fixed-tilt solar tracking technology. Topaz Solar Farm interconnects to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) balancing authority within the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) NERC region.
The facility's latest annual generation was 1,018,564 MWh, resulting in a capacity factor of 19.8%. Topaz Solar Farm is ranked as the largest solar plant in California out of 59, and 13th nationally out of 639. The plant has a reported power purchase agreement (PPA) price of $170.77 per MWh.
Generated from EIA, GEM, and public data sources
ISO/RTO
CAISO
Market
ISO/RTO Member
NERC Region
WECC — Western Electricity Coordinating Council
Balancing Authority
California Independent System Operator (CISO)
Grid Voltage
230.0 kV
Regulatory Status
NR — Non-Regulated
Entity Type
Independent Power Producer
Sector
IPP Non-CHP
Monthly net generation as reported to EIA-923 — useful for historical context. Confidence varies sharply by fuel type; the band above and the “About this data” button explain the caveats specific to this plant and how InfraSure’s in-house model handles them.
74.0K MWh
Latest Month
1.0M MWh
Annual Generation
19.8%
Capacity Factor
Forward-looking generation outlook with probabilistic ranges across weather, demand, and policy scenarios. Powered by InfraSure's generation modeling stack.
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Historic financial signal for this asset — PPA, LCOE, market value where reported. The base for forward bankability and insurance analytics on the InfraSure platform.
Topaz Solar Farms LLC · Data from 2014–2025
$139.0/MWh
PPA Price
Forward revenue, DSCR bands, and refinancing risk projected under price, demand, and policy scenarios. Powered by InfraSure's asset cashflow stack.
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Market Position
ISO/RTO Market
CAISO
LMP Node
CARRIZO_1_N001
Pricing Hub
TH_SP15_GEN-APND
Location Type
Pricing Node
Node Source
Curated node match
No wholesale contracts disclosed in FERC EQR for this plant.
FERC EQR captures bilateral wholesale energy + capacity contracts ≥$1M/yr filed quarterly by jurisdictional sellers — covers renewable PPAs, thermal energy sales agreements, capacity contracts, and tolling agreements alike. Many plants don't appear: regulated-utility output flows to ratepayers via cost-of-service rather than bilateral contracts; small projects fall below the filing threshold; tax-equity-financed renewables route offtake to investors not utilities; merchant plants sell into ISO clearing markets without bilateral contracts. News-extracted buyer facts (below) may surface contracts disclosed only through announcements.
Last updated 2026-04-19
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Top solar plant owners in the US
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Top 10 solar states
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