New England's largest solar plant is in the final stages of preparation before it begins delivering power to about 300 homes later this month, the Associated Press reports.

The Western Massachusetts Electric Company's project in Pittsfield, Massachusetts has more than 6,500 solar panels, will generate more than 1,800 kilowatts, and costs $9.4 million. It sets the stage for an even larger project for nearby Springfield, it will create solar industry jobs, and will give oil-burning furnaces a run for their money.

"What we'd like to do is open a new sector," Carl Frattini, the company's business development director told the Associated Press.

As examples, New Jersey and Florida host solar projects that are larger than the one in Pittsfield, according to the Associated Press. A facility in Pilesgrove, New Jersey will generate 20 megawatts by May 2011 while a 25-megawatt plant opened in 2009 in Arcadia, Florida.

Eight acres and 33 rows of solar panels cover the Pittsfield site, where General Electric made transformers and spilled chlorine into the soil. The site is an out-of-the way industrial park.