Towards the end of last week, a company based in Washington State announced plans to build what would be the world’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant. If project developers gain approval from Kittitas County, Teanaway Solar Reserve will construct near the town of Cle Elum a 75-megawatt plant, consisting of 400,000 individual solar panels. As reported by the Seattle Times,

The energy produced would be enough for 45,000 homes, said Howard Trott, the Kirkland man who heads the operation.

Trott said he expects the plant to be operational by 2011.

“If we can do this in the Pacific Northwest, we are hopeful this will launch other large-scale solar projects around the U.S.,” said Trott, who for 22 years helped manage investments for Seattle telecom billionaire Craig McCaw.

Trott said McCaw is not putting up any money for the plant, which will cost “north of $100 million.” Trott would not reveal where the funds are coming from.

“As a privately held company, we are able to move quickly and have the resources to get this done,” he said.

Teanaway Solar Reserve has leased 400 acres of private timberland about 4 miles from Cle Elum, near the scenic Teanaway Valley. The site has been heavily logged in the past, but is surrounded by Ponderosa pine forest that will screen the array from view, Trott said. …

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell participated in the announcement, praising the plans. She pointed out the value of federal tax credits for solar projects, which she helped to extend.

“This project will move Washington into the second largest solar producer by megawatt, in the United States — behind California,” Cantwell said.

The sheer magnitude of the proposed project is mind-boggling. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly the firm is able to navigate state and local rules and regulations: there’s project siting, connecting to the grid, gaining approval to sell electricity… My guess is that actually installing the 400,000 solar panels will be the easy part.

Meanwhile, also in solar Washington news, it appears that Snohomish County’s Solar Express Rebate Program has met with some success since being introduced in March of this year:

Despite the bad economy and high up-front expense — a typical solar power system for a home runs about $20,000 before rebates — interest in solar power appears to be gaining traction in Snohomish County.

Many credit increasingly generous government programs that offer cash rebates and tax write-offs to install solar energy systems and payments for electricity that is generated by solar panels, whether or not it is sent into to the power grid.

In the first three months of Solar Express, a PUD solar rebate and low-interest loan program, 26 households and one business applied.

“It’s probably twice as many as we expected to see at this time,” said Mary Smith, a senior manager of energy efficiency at PUD.

Here’s a quick rundown of the Snohomish County PUD solar rebate:

• Residential solar panel (PV) systems: may receive a cash rebate of $500/kW insatlled, up to $2,500
• Commercial soalr panel (PV) systems can receive a solar rebate of $500/kW, up to $10,000

To qualify for the rebate, systems must incorporate new, pre-approved equipment.