The solar farm at Huntly is part of a $42 million program from the federal Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts to trial solar power.

The installation at Huntly will be the largest ground mounted, flat plate, grid connected solar installation in Australia.

Project director Michael McCartney said not only will the Solar City help the environment but it would also create local jobs.

“All the general contracting, the fencing, the general work is being done with local labour.

“In a perfect world it would be great if this was a beacon of how things could be done in the future. Presumably there is more land here and if the concept is successful, bring it on."

The trial program will run until 2013 and will provide enough power for 150 clients.

“We will be looking for 150 customers to be renters of panels in the solar farms," Mr McCartney said.

Origin merging customer solutions manager Dominic Drenen said customers would be leasing the equivalent of 2kw of solar panel and compared the arrangement to buying shares in a company.

“Customers would buy a share in the farm and the dividend would be the percentage of the energy generated from the solar farm," Mr Drenen said.

He said it was a cost-effective system and an alternative for people who can't install their own solar panels.

“Leasing a share will be about $800 a year, and the amount that is generated will be the equivalent of $800 worth of energy, so it is a cost-effective way of purchasing green power.

“If the project is oversubscribed then you will get companies like Origin and Powercor saying let's build another one and another one and that's exciting," Mr Drenen said.

The City of Greater Bendigo has provided a 1.25ha site for the project that will cover 30,000 square metres, equivalent to two football ovals.

City of Greater Bendigo director of city strategy Jan Boynton said the program is another step forward for Bendigo.

“In the first five years we will get an understanding of the appetite of purchasing green power, and supporting this whole concept for sustainability," Ms Boynton said.

“There is a definite opportunity to expand it," she said.