ForeFront Power Completes Its First Erthos Solar Energy System for the City of Fresno

A solar developer called ForeFront Power has finished its first project using a new type of ground-mounted solar system for the City of Fresno, California. The system sits at the city's Northeast Surface Water Treatment Plant and uses technology from a company called Erthos, which lays solar panels flat on the ground instead of mounting them on raised steel racks. Skipping the steel racking cuts construction costs, and those savings get passed on as a lower electricity rate.

This is a municipal water-treatment project, not a home system, so it does not involve any homeowner action or rebate. But the arrangement behind it is worth knowing about: ForeFront Power owns and maintains the solar system, and the city buys the electricity from it at a fixed, lower rate than its utility charges, for 20 years. That kind of deal, called a power purchase agreement, is one way large customers get solar power without paying for equipment upfront. The Fresno system is part of a larger 27-megawatt solar and battery-storage buildout across three city sites, which the city expects will save ratepayers more than $122 million by 2045. Since starting up in March 2026, the system has run slightly above its expected output and delivered 862 megawatt-hours of power so far.

The panels also get cleaned automatically at night by a small robot that brushes dust off the array, then returns to its charging dock, cutting down on maintenance costs for large solar farms like this one.