BrightSource Energy, a solar energy provider, signed a deal with Sourthern California Edison to supply the utility company with 1,300 Megawatts of solar energy, enough to serve nearly 845,000 homes.

The deal calls for a series of seven plants totaling 1,300 megawatts constructed over the next seven years. The first of these solar power plants, sized at 100 megawatts will be established in Ivanpah, Calif. and may begin operating in early 2013, Oakland's BrightSource said Wednesday.

The cost of the deal was not disclosed but it is one of the largest solar energy contracts to date in the nation and its still has to be approved by regulators.

It has an environmental impact , it will reduce more than two million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, the equivalent of removing more than 335,000 cars from the road, the statement said.

These contracts represent a significant addition to our renewable portfolio, which is already the nation's largest. said Stuart Hemphill, SCE vice president of Renewable and Alternative Power in the statement.

California's state law for renewable energy standards require utility companies to acquire 20 percent of their electricity from clean energy by the end of 2010 and as much as 33 percent by 2020.

Solar energy Renewable energy Solar Energy