Solar-project developer American Capital Energy, Inc. expects its 2010 revenue to be three times what it was last year, Mass High Tech reports.

The CEO of the North Chelmsford, Massachusetts-based company, Tom Hunton, anticipates that ACE will earn $200 million this year - and he said the company plans to ramp up hiring in the coming months. ACE only has 20 people on the payroll in Massachusetts at the moment, Mass High Tech says.

Hunton also noted that ACE has been in talks with the state government to erect solar-power systems on brownfield properties, or former industrial sites polluted by chemicals. Brownfields aren't habitable without extensive remediation, but they are nearly ideal for solar arrays. In fact, some brownfield sites in western Massachusetts have already been developed into solar facilities.

The pace of solar development in the Bay State is likely to increase in the coming years: The state hopes to produce 250 megawatts of solar-generated electricity by 2017, up from about 10 megawatts today. With the help of companies like ACE, Massachusetts should be able to meet its goal and give residents access to clean, renewable solar energy.