His vision includes making the power-hungry Sun Belt city into a leader in the new energy economy through initiatives like the largest municipally owned mega solar project and the Decade of Downtown inner-city revitalization program.

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NRG, a power plant developer who has invested in some of the largest solar power projects in the country, decided to give SCS a try as it sought to expand its focus to include not just mega solar farms in remote locations but also smaller projects on commercial properties close to or within cities.

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The mega-chain has been placing solar arrays atop its stores since 2008 and recently installed an array atop its 100th retail outpost in San Diego.

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