Granite Construction Co. reports that one of its asphalt concrete and aggregate facilities in Indio is among the first in the nation to use solar energy to generate as much as 75% of its required power.

The firm says the clean energy produced on-site is equivalent to providing power for up to 100 homes.

The 318kW solar-powered project is designed using Amonix concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar power systems. Each of the six systems has dual-axis tracking to maximize the sun’s rays and generate clean energy to operate Granite’s facility. Amonix CPV technology is also powering a Granite facility in Tucson, Ariz., which has three systems on-site.

All surplus power generated when the plant is not in use provides usable clean energy to Imperial Irrigation District (IID) customers, Granite says. IID helped make the project possible through its photovoltaic solar solutions program, which has provided more than $6 million in incentives to residential and nonresidential customers since 2008.

Granite has teamed with Amonix to install an additional 159 kW system at its Swan facility in Arizona. In addition, Granite recently installed a 2MW Amonix system at the University of Arizona’s Solar Technology Park. Granite has also started construction on a 1 MW facility in Coalinga using thin-film technology from Solar Frontier.