Pacific Gas deal will nearly double USA's solar power

[JohnWxy]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-08-17-solar-electric_N.htm

Pacific Gas and Electric (PCG) in California announced last week it will buy 800 megawatts of solar-generated electricity from two companies, enough to light 239,000 homes. Within three years, PG&E will buy its solar energy from OptiSolar and SunPower, which plan to build the world's two largest solar farms in California as part of the deal.

It would nearly double the USA's entire solar-panel capacity. Driving the trend are solar's falling costs and state alternative-energy mandates.

Solar power has grown but still makes up well under 1% of U.S. power generation. More than 90% of solar panels have been installed on rooftops by maverick consumers and businesses. Utilities' embrace of solar energy will help push it to about 10% of power generation by 2025, predicts Ron Pernick, principal of research firm Clean Edge.

"Just a handful of utilities doing something big changes the scale of the entire market," says Julia Hamm of the Solar Electric Power Association.

[Jack Rabbit]

1. Very good news

I live in California and I am no fan of PG&E. I firmly believe public utilities should be owned by the public.

However, in times such as these, it's whatever works. This is another sign that the era of fossil fuels, which corporate and political corruption have put of life support for the last thirty years, is coming to an end.

[JohnWxy]

3. Yes, and significant not only because they will nearly double the installed solar collector

capacity of the U.S. but also that this signifies the cost of solar has come down to the point where it is now becoming commercially competitive! THis means we should see a dramatic increase in the growth of solar power.

Great news!

[pinto]

2. OptiSolar has one planned in our county (CA) -

They are going through the permit/plan review/public comment process here in San Luis Obispo County now. The Carrisa Plains is in the arid eastern edge of the county. There is some debate about the imprint construction traffic will have in this remote, ecologically sensitive area, but OptiSolar has indicated they will address those concerns in public forums and the Environmental Impact Review (a required part of the official approval process.)

SLO County is also home to PG&E's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant on the coast.


This is a blurb from the company's web site

The Project
OptiSolar, a California-based independent power producer committed to delivering clean, competitively priced electricity, is developing an eco-friendly 550-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) solar farm in San Luis Obispo County, California. Located on the northwestern corner of the Carrisa Plains, this project will produce sufficient electricity to power the equivalent of approximately 190,000 average California homes. When compared to a fossil-fueled power plant, this represents the equivalent of taking about 90,000 cars off the road. The project will contribute to San Luis Obispo County’s and the State’s important objectives for clean, renewable energy sources. California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requires that utilities secure at least 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2010. The State has also set a goal of increasing renewables to 33 percent by 2020.

OptiSolar’s technology enables low-profile solar panels to be placed on ballasts on the ground with minimal grading. Like solar panels on a home, these panels produce electricity directly from the sun without moving parts. As a result, they avoid the need for large structures that turbine-based systems require, and do not result in the noise associated with such systems.

OptiSolar submitted an application to San Luis Obispo County for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) in July of 2008. Construction is targeted to begin in 2010, after completing the local approval process.