Snowy, cloudy conditions weren't the most ideal for a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the opening of a new solar testing site, but officials still see sunny days in the future.

The groundbreaking was held Oct. 21 for SolarTAC, a 74-acre site in far north Aurora that will be used to test new solar technologies. Several private and public solar entities will use the desolate stretch of city-owned land for testing and demonstration, said Dustin Smith, executive director of SolarTAC.

SolarTAC will help develop the infrastructure for participating members, which so far includes Abengoa Solar, the City of Aurora, the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute, SunEdison and Xcel Energy. Each member pays fees to use the land, which are typically split into 5-acre parcels for each member.

The area was originally slated for houses until Denver International Airport was built. City officials revised those plans and hope the area can be a hub for solar development.

"SolarTAC will be the best site in the country for the proving of new technology," said Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer. "This campus is targeted at directly boosting the members' bottom line. We believe that other companies will also see the advantages they can gain by working with the SolarTAC members on this site."

SunEdison will begin developing a portion of the site for testing new photovoltaic system components early next year. Xcel Energy also will be permanently locating the CU Solar Decathlon exhibit to the site to serve as a visitors' center and solar exhibit.