Can solar power prove itself to be a cost-effective source of electricity?
The prospects grew brighter last Thursday when Pacific Gas and Electric announced two contracts that will lead to the nation's first large-scale photovoltaic plants.
One of the deals, with OptiSolar, would generate 550 megawatts from a 9.5-square-mile solar farm that the company plans to build in San Luis Obispo County. The other would involve 250 megawatts from SunPower Corp. on another 3.5-square-mile chunk of San Luis Obispo land.
Together, these plants would generate enough clean electricity to power 239,000 homes. PG&E and the other companies aren't disclosing the rates the utility would pay. But PG&E says the deals would not affect rates its Northern California customers pay. The PG&E deal is significant on several fronts:
• It's good news for Sacramento. OptiSolar recently announced plans for a factory at McClellan Park that will employ 50 people. Anything that helps OptiSolar also helps its plans to expand to 500 employees here.
• It suggests that producing photovoltaic energy – silicon-type panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity – is coming down in price. Utilities purchasing solar on a large scale have generally gone with solar thermal technology, in which liquid is heated and then used to power a turbine.
• It will greatly increase PG&E's portfolio of renewable power. Utilities are under a state mandate to get 20 percent of their energy from renewables by 2010. PG&E says the new deals will get the utility to 24 percent by 2013, up from 11.4 percent in 2007.
California's laws, including its renewable standard and its 2006 law to reduce greenhouse gases, deserve credit for the ongoing push toward cleaner energy sources.
But it's too soon to celebrate. Congress needs to reauthorize several tax credits for renewable energy for PG&E's deals to pencil out. The sooner Congress extends these credits, the sooner Californians can be powering more homes with the rays of the sun.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.