Sun rises on US energy scene

California’s “biggest ever” solar project follows record year for industry growth

America’s solar energy industry is coming of age. After a record growth year in 2007, pumping over $2 billion into the economy, the sector as a whole  – manufacturers and distributors of photovoltaic, concentrating solar power and solar heating technology - is projecting that revenues will again more than double in 2008. 

The Solar Energy Industries Association is also trumpeting the investment of billions of Wall Street investment dollars in solar energy companies. And an SEIA survey of its members revealed an impressive tally of 80 major projects in the planning stages that, if built, would represent about 56,000MW of renewable power and 20,000 permanent jobs.

The biggest boost of all came in April this year when utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric announced that it will buy up to 900MW of electricity from five new solar thermal power plants to be built by BrightSource Energy over the next decade in the Mojave Desert.  Construction will cost up to $3 billion and the plants will employ about 1,000 workers and provide enough electricity for 540,000 California homes a year. “From what I know, this is the biggest commitment ever in the history of solar,” declared John Woolard, BrightSource Energy’s chief executive officer and president.

BrightSource’s cutting edge solar thermal (or concentrating solar power) technology uses what it calls “distributed power towers” in which sunlight from thousands of movable mirrors capture and concentrate sunlight to heat water in a boiler to more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The steam that results feeds a turbine that makes electricity.  The company predicts that the first, 100MW, plant for PG&E will be operational in 2011 and the rest by 2016. BrightSource’s announcement comes hard on the heels of a separate deal, in November 2007, between PG&E and rival solar manufacturer Ausra to build a 177MW solar thermal plant, also in California.

There is one major caveat to this rosy outlook. A federal subsidy, which covers 30% of the cost to solar manufacturers of building plants, expires at the end of the year and has not yet been renewed by Congress. SEIA President Rhone Resch has warned that “should the solar investment tax credit be allowed to lapse, after only three years in existence, companies will see a substantial loss of jobs and reduced revenue growth.”

Both the industry and environmental groups are lobbying vigorously on the issue and a measure extending the tax credit was approved by the Senate in April and sent to the more conservative House of Representatives. - Polly Ghazi

18 April 2008

Polly Ghazi