Half the money for the development ($3.55 million) will come from the Federal Government under the Renewable Remote Power Generation program, which helps Australians who live outside of major cities and towns, and who are not connected to the main grid, to gain access to renewable power supplies.
The State Government is also providing funding of $635,000 for the project.
Speaking at the 3rd International Solar Cities Congress in Adelaide, Garrett said: "There will be 26 dishes, each one 14 metres high and tracking the arc of the sun - an Australian design, delivering the nation's most efficient solar power station."
Each of these dishes will concentrate the received sunlight by 500 times onto an array of high efficiency photovoltaic cells that directly convert sunlight into electricity.
"When it's completed at the end of 2009, it will generate about 1860 megawatt hours a year - 13 percent of Coober Pedy's total electricity requirements," Garrett said.
"And it will cut diesel consumption by up to 520,000 litres a year, saving 1500 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions."
Coober Pedy has been chosen because it is not on the electricity grid, and currently gets all of its power from diesel generators.
Rann said SA already provides nearly half of the nation's wind power, more than 45% of the nation's grid-connected solar power, and is home to more than 80% of all geothermal exploration activity in Australia.
"And this announcement comes just days after South Australia passed the nation's first solar feed-in laws which will see consumers get double the retail price for surplus power they feed back into the grid," he said.
The project has been developed in partnership with Solar Systems, the District Council of Coober Pedy and Wesfarmers subsidiary Energy Generation.
