Out there in the desert southwest – west of Texas and east of California – you can stumble upon a mother lode of smart grid projects. Three in particular caught our eye.. Scroll down for a look.

Mesa del Sol unveils its smart grid system

We've been telling you for years now about this ambitious Mesa del Sol R&D project in Albuquerque, New Mexico that has attracted significant Japanese investment and a host of partners. The latest development came earlier this month when Mesa del Sol launched what it's calling a first of its kind 'smart grid system' in the nation. In conjunction with the project's solar storage facility that is fully integrated into a utility’s power grid, the objective is to innovate smart grid controls to overcome intermittency challenges with renewables. The latest piece, the newly installed microgrid, uses on-site solar, fuel cell, natural gas and back-up battery storage to power the 78,000 square foot Aperture Center at Mesa del Sol.

“The new smart grid has a building management system that is automated and manages the electric supply and distribution between our on-site generation sources, energy storage and PNM’s power grid,” explained Manny Barerra, Mesa del Sol’s Director of Engineering. Read more about the project >>

Nevada gets a solar tower of power (a big one)

Out in the Nevada desert, a 600 foot shaft of concrete that one reporter says looks like it was dropped by aliens, is expected to eventually produce enough renewable electricity to power 75,000 homes during peak periods. The billion dollar power plant funded in part by Department of Energy loan guarantees is being developed by Santa Monica-based SolarReserve. The Crescent Dunes project near Tonopah, NV will utilize concentrated solar power (CSP) with thermal energy storage.

"Throughout the field around here, that will be in the order of 10,000 heliostats. They will concentrate the sun onto the top of the tower," Solar Reserve Construction Manager Brian Painter told KLAS-TV. "For all intents and purposes, this plant is a regular power plant. The steam cycle is the same as any power plant out there," said Painter. "The only difference is, our energy source is the sun."

The project, which started in September 2011, is expected to be completed in late 2013 and during that time SolarReserve says it will have employed more than 600 workers on site. Read more about the project >>

Smart technologies ghost town moves forward

The Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation (CITE) has chosen an empty patch of desert near Hobbs, New Mexico for its ambitious, privately funded testing ground for emerging technologies. Backed by Pegasus Holdings headquartered in Cle Elum, Washington, what's been dubbed the ghost town project has the support of New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez. But it also has its skeptics who question the company's financial wherewithal to pull of what it says will be "a fully integrated physical facility modeled on a medium-sized American city, including its urban, suburban, and rural areas, built with standard roads, buildings, power, water, telecommunications and operating systems."

The idea is to use the empty city – as in population 0 – as a test bed for a wide range of next-generation innovations and technologies. Among them, according to the CITE web site: "One of the fastest growing segments in energy production is focused on green technologies, but challenges still exist in the integration of these technologies into existing out dated infrastructure.  CITE will provide unique opportunities to drill down into the cost of introducing solar, wind, and smart grid technologies in a real world setting to help determine the next steps to success." Click to page 2 for a video diagram of the proposed project and/or read more at Fast Company >>