SOLAR HOPE

Solar Power Advocates Hopeful for 2010
Robert P. Walzer, January 19, 2010 (NY Times)

"Between 500 and 600 megawatts of solar power will be built this year across the United States — about double the figure of last year — according to Larry Sherwood, who compiles and studies such data as a consultant to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council…[S]ome analysts [are] projecting even higher figures.

"Among states, California is expected to maintain first place, and New Jersey is likely to come in second, with Florida making a strong showing for the first time…Helping to prop up the market will be incentives under President Obama, who announced last week a $2.3 billion tax credit in the clean-energy sector…[T]he falling cost of photovoltaic cells [will also] propel the market this year after a period in late 2008 and early 2009 when prices were rising."

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"Arno Harris, the chief executive of Recurrent Energy, a California solar energy developer, added that flowing bank credit would further help the sector…The outlook for the West Coast looks particularly bright…Adam Browning, the executive director of the Vote Solar Initiative, a nonprofit advocacy group, points to legislative developments there in particular.

"The overarching driver is California’s law requiring the state’s utilities to derive 20 percent of their power from renewable energy this year and 33 percent by 2020. The figure for 2009 was 13 percent…"

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"Mr. Browning also said that Southern California Edison was likely to receive approval from state regulators… to build and own 250 megawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity and to auction contracts worth 250 megawatts to be owned and maintained by independent power producers…[T]he first auction would take place in the first quarter…Pacific Gas and Electric has applied for a similarly sized program, and the regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, is expected to approved it in February…

"…[A California] feed-in-tariff program [also appears] to be coming to fruition this year. It would require California’s investor-owned utilities to conduct multiple auctions for 1.5 to 10 megawatt renewable projects of up to 1 gigawatt over four years…Finally, Mr. Browning said that he expected an increase in the state’s cap on net metering — the total amount of solar energy that can be fed into a utility at peak demand, which is now set at 2.5 percent…"