From his own Kirkland home to the world’s largest solar plant, Howard Trott believes in building with the future in mind.

His family has lived in a home in the Houghton neighborhood that they tore down, recycled and then rebuilt over a year. He, his wife and three sons have also built three additional houses. Trott sold two of the homes near Teanaway, but maintains one for personal use near the Columbia River.

“We were just out for an adventure,” he said about the first time. “Recycling the house in Houghton also saved us some money. We poured the foundation and framed the walls. Learned ow to stucco, made the doors and trim. It took a lot of weekend work.”

Through his career, Trott has also helped to build a sustainable housing development in Schweitzer, Idaho that recently broke ground and uses recycled building materials and geothermal heating. In addition, he converted James Island in the gulf of British Columbia – the former site of an ammunition manufacturing facility – from an island contaminated with lead and nitroglycerin into a model of environmental sustainability with green homes. The project left the island with green modular homes and green cars and “one of the most clean, green, environmentally conscious self-contained islands in the world,” according to the company’s Web site.

Now, Trott is on to a project of global proportions.

He is now the head of the Teanaway Solar Reserve, which will be the world’s largest solar plant. The photovoltaic array will rest on 400 acres in the Teanaway Valley in the Ellensburg area of Kittitas County and is expected to produce enough power for 45,000 households.

“We will use 400,000 panels,” said Trott, who is the managing director of the project. “They are the same ones that would go on your house.”

The plant is expected to produce 75 megawatts of power. In comparison, a coal-fired power plant can generate between 1,200 and 14,000 megawatts of power. In terms of renewable energy, Puget Sound Energy has a solar power facility at its Wild Horse Wind Farm that generates one-half of a megawatt.

“We see green energy as a good commodity,” said Trott. “The increase in manufacturing capacity has led to price for panels to decrease.”

The price per watt has decreased significantly for solar panels. An average price of $7 per watt five years ago has recently plummeted to $3 at the beginning of the year.

“It has gone from $3 now down to $2 a watt,” said Trott, who’s project is expected to be completed by 2011. “When you compare it to gas there will be more and more demand in the future with more electric cars coming out.”

One of the catalysts for the project is the fact that energy companies in Washington state are required to supply 15 percent of renewable electricity by 2015. Trott said that their goal is to sell the power in state, but knows they may have to look elsewhere.

The biggest hurdle for the project was expected to be the regulatory aspects. But Trott said that the project has garnered “great support” so far.

“This project is more than just an energy creator, it’s a jobs creator. The proposed Teanaway Solar Reserve would create hundreds of new jobs from the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in Kittitas County,” Senator Patty Murray told thebioenergysite.com.

The project will manufacture the panels in Cle Elum, Wash.

“I hope this helps promote the use of solar panels,” said Trott. “It is an educational process. The more factories and demand creates better efficiency for home owners and better prices.”

Another challenge has been the frequent snow that falls in the Teanaway Valley. Trott turned to Europe, which is the world leader in solar-generated power, to help with solving the snow issues.

With technology moving along at a dizzying pace and the recent problems that oil baron T. Boone Pickens has experienced with his wind farms in Texas, Trott is aware of the risks in renewable energy. He also hopes for better technology in the photovoltaic world but is realistic since solar panels have been producing at about 20 percent efficiency for a long time.

“I have watched this for a long time,” said Trott, who managed investments for 22 years for telecommunications magnate Craig McCaw, current chairman and former CEO of Clearwire Corp. in Kirkland. “We have basically had the same panels for 20 years. We don’t see the technology running out in front of us.”