The Mesquite Solar 1 is a photovoltaic solar power plant to be built in Arlington, Maricopa County, Arizona, owned by Sempra Generation. Phase 1 will have a nameplate capacity of 150 megawatts. The project has enough land for at least 600 MW.

Mesquite Solar 1 will use 800,000 solar panels bought from Suntech Power. The EPC contractor is Zachry Holdings. Construction is expected to begin in 2011 and be completed in 2013.Mesquite 1 is projected to generate more than 350 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually (an average power of 40 MW).

Phase 1 will cost about $600 million. SempraGeneration has chosen Suntech Power Holdings and Zachry Holdings to design and construct its Mesquite Solar 1 project. When completed in late 2012, the Arizona plant will produce 150MW of electricity and sell it to Pacific Gas & Electric under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The site is located 30 miles outside of Suntech’s new Goodyear manufacturing facility, which will provide panels for the project. U.S. EPC provider Zachry will manage the installation of the 800,000 panels during the first phase.