The first sod has been turned at a multi-million-dollar solar technology centre in central Australia.

The Solar Technology Demonstration Facility in Alice Springs will include a range of solar power products and a "solar forest" and "solar compass".

The centre will be used for training, education and research and its backers hope it will also become a tourist attraction.

The senior project manager Lyndon Frearson says the project will attract worldwide interest.

"As a pure size of a project it's relatively small, but when look at what this is trying to do - as far as comparing technologies - it's absolutely unique in Australia," he said.

"There's only two or three other places in the world that have got this scale of demonstration and we're one of very, very few that actually allows public engagement with the technologies."

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