Pratt & Whitney Rockedyne is providing components for a 110-megawatt solar project planned for the Nevada desert. The U.S. Department of Energy is providing a $737 million loan guarantee to fund the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project under construction outside of Tonopah. The developer, Santa Monica-based SolarReserve, secured private financing, as well. Canoga Park-based Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will provide control software for positioning the 17,000 mirrors to capture the maximum amount of the sun’s rays as well as the receiver that collects the solar energy from the mirrors and the molten salt that can store the energy until released. Pratt & Whitney developed this technology from its expertise in designing and building rocket engines for NASA. Moving into the energy market allows the company to diversify its customer base in the face of dwindling rocket engine contracts. “Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has leveraged its extreme engineering experience to develop this technology” Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne President Jim Maser said in a prepared statement. “We’re pleased to be part of a project that will create jobs, provide clean, affordable energy, and change the way the world meets its growing energy needs.” Work on the Crescent Dunes project began earlier this month. Operations are expected to begin in late 2013. NV Energy, the largest utility in Nevada, signed a 25-year power sales contract to purchase all the power generated by the solar farm. Read more about Pratt & Whitney’s work in the energy industry in the Oct. 10 edition of the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.