The project, which is planned to be completed in late 2015, is anticipated to generate enough energy for 40,000 homes.
The project is expected to create around 295 jobs during peak construction and contribute about $80m to local economy.
Southern California Edison will buy the energy generated from the plant under a long-term power purchase agreement.
SunPower expects to own and operate the plant during construction as part of its holdco strategy.
The company currently has over 500MW of residential, commercial and utility solar assets under contract globally including the Quinto power plant.
SunPower has the option to own for a period of time prior to a strategic sale or continue ownership post-construction in the operational phase of the project.
SunPower president and CEO Tom Werner said: "The advantages of SunPower’s technology, combined with our global footprint of more than four gigawatts of operating solar systems, give us confidence to deploy a holdco strategy with regard to Quinto.
"This strategy allows SunPower to realize the return on investment from the leading power-producing performance of our technology, and reduces the risk to potential buyers if we decide to sell the operational plant."
Image: Southern California Edison will buy the energy generated from the Quinto solar project under a long-term power purchase agreement. Photo: Courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
