SOLAR ON THE MOVE

Sempra solar energy project makes advances in costs
Marla Dickerson, January 5, 2009 (LA Times)

“Generating clean electricity that's as cheap as power from fossil fuels is the Holy Grail of green-energy companies. A new solar project powering California homes appears to be closing in on that prize.

”Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy in San Diego, just took the wraps off a 10-megawatt solar farm in Nevada…[Mark Bachman, senior equity analyst for Pacific Crest Securities] has calculated that the facility can produce power at a cost of 7.5 cents a kilowatt-hour, less than the 9-cent benchmark for conventional electricity.

”If that's so, it marks a milestone that renewable fans have longed for: "grid parity," in which electricity from the sun, wind or other green sources can meet or beat the price performance of such carbon-based fuels as coal and natural gas…

”The stock of First Solar Inc., the Tempe, Ariz., company that manufactured the solar modules for the project, has soared 20% since Bachman released his analysis..no one involved in the deal is willing to confirm Bachman's conclusions…What they will say is that this facility, known as El Dorado Energy Solar, is producing electricity at costs below anything comparable to date…

No sound, just amazing vistas of the El Dorado Solar Project, finishing with a fast-action view of the construction process. From marketwire via YouTube.

“First Solar uses a lower-cost semiconductor known as cadmium telluride, which it fashions into so-called thin-film cells that are cheaper to manufacture than their silicon-based counterparts.

”First Solar's technology is proving popular with Southern California energy companies looking to do supersized solar projects…California law requires the state's investor-owned utilities to generate 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010, a figure that's set to increase to 33% by 2020. The state also has committed to cutting its greenhouse gases dramatically. Those mandates are creating opportunities for all manner of clean-energy companies…

”Some energy wonks are likely to dispute Bachman's conclusion that the El Dorado project has achieved grid parity…What's clear is that the costs of solar power are dropping dramatically across the industry as the technology is more widely adopted and producers become more efficient…”