Conversations about solar energy often highlight its intermittent nature, as the Sun doesn’t shine consistently in any single location. However, in the Mojave Desert in California, sunlight is abundant. This fact is leveraged by the Edwards Sanborn Solar and Energy Storage project, which boasts the highest capacity solar farm in the United States combined with the world’s largest battery storage system.
The facility commenced operations in February 2023 and achieved full functionality in January 2024. On January 12, 2024, the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured an image of the project, showcasing its nearly 2 million solar panels. Situated approximately 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, the site resides in an area of the United States with abundant solar energy reaching the ground.
The plant spans both private and federal land, leveraging an enhanced use lease program to repurpose underutilized land on Edwards Air Force Base. Slightly more than half of the panels are situated on the base, with the remainder positioned on private land. This project has been hailed as the largest public-private collaboration in the history of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Edwards Sanborn boasts an impressive 875 megawatts of solar capacity, the highest among all facilities in the U.S. To address intermittency concerns, it integrates a battery energy storage system with a capacity of 3,300 megawatt-hours, surpassing the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility to become the world’s largest battery storage system. The project provides power to California utilities, the city of San Jose, the Clean Power Alliance, and various corporations.
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