WASHINGTON -- The federal government announced yesterday that 25 square miles of the Nevada Test Site have been set aside as a Solar Demonstration Zone.

The Department of the Interior joined with the Department of Energy in choosing "a site that will take advantage of Nevada's world-class solar resources to highlight the latest innovations in solar technologies while creating clean energy jobs," said Monique Hanis, a spokeswoman for the Solar Energy Industries Association.

SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch praised Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., for working with the two departments to select the site in Nye County.

"Solar energy is already one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and this project ensures that Nevada will be at the center of this booming industry," Resch said.

He said residents of the state are "well positioned to use their world-class natural resources and talented workforce to be an exporter of clean solar energy rather than an importer of hazardous nuclear waste and polluting fossil fuels."

Resch said a two-year extension of the Treasury Grant Program, which expires in December, and an expansion of the solar Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit will "go a long way toward meeting the solar industry's goal of installing solar energy to power two million homes by 2015. These policies are expected to create 3,000 jobs in Nevada."

The point of the Solar Demonstration Zone will be to speed adoption of advanced utility-scale solar technology.

"This project allows solar energy companies to gain valuable field results, accelerating deployment of highly promising innovations to the market," Resch said. "Such improvements can reduce large-scale solar system costs, increase their efficiency and enhance storage capacity."

As well, he added, real-life testing will improve financing opportunities for solar projects.

"There are currently 22 gigawatts of utility-scale solar projects in the development pipeline," Resch said. That would be sufficient to power 4.4 million households.