While wind power has snagged plenty of headlines in recent months, it isn’t the only renewable energy source drawing big dollars from utility companies these days. Southern California Edison, which already pulls in some seventeen percent of its power from renewables, announced today that it would invest in a 245 megawatt solar project to power customers in the region.

The undertaking, which is the first commercial effort in America using solar tower technology, is contracted through eSolar and takes advantage of the massive amount of sunlight the Southern California region receives each year.

While wind turbines have come to symbolize the green movement in recent years, solar power represents another viable and time-tested means of drawing power from the environment with minimal ecological disturbance. Solar towers, along with hypothetical space-based solar arrays, could dramatically increase solar’s presence in the energy market over the coming decades.