Electricity that some of us used over the past month probably came from the sun. Nevada Solar One is now producing power. News 3 is the first local television station to get a tour of the operation. As Mitch Truswell shows us, there are already plans to expand.

"We made power this morning," Bob Cable with Nevada Solar One exclaimed. Even on a cloudy, monsoon day, Nevada Solar One can produce power. Right now, the solar field south of Las Vegas covers about 212 acres.

Solar power costs more to produce per kilowatt hour than running a coal plant or natural gas powered plant. Mostly it's technology and equipment costs. Solar power has no environmental costs. No fossil fuels are burned. There's no smoke or exhaust. Just clean, renewable energy from the sun.

"The sun is free and we love that and we just need to get the equipment to gather that energy to come down in price," Cable said.

The mirrors Solar One employs are similar to the ones you have in your home. The whole contraption can move to follow the sun. All the mirrors concentrate the sun's energy and they direct it to the one pipe. Inside the pipe is a specialized oil. The mirrors heat the oil to 735 degrees Fahrenheit. Down the way, a heat exchanger makes steam which turns a turbine and makes electricity.

"If you see the sun, we can make power," Cable explains, "when it's hazy out, we can still make power. If the sun is gone, we're no longer able to make power."

Most days the power output is about 66 megawatts by 8 am and remains so until roughly 7 pm. There are plans to someday increase the field to 6,000 acres. That'll be enough power for about 200,000 homes.

Right now, Nevada Solar One can produce enough power for about 1,400 homes. All of Solar One's power is sold to Nevada Power, which is mandated to get a certain percentage of its power from renewable sources.

Nevada Solar One is not open for tours yet. They get requests from all over the world. It is owned by Spanish company and started producing power to sell on June 22.