Calif. could get big solar power boost
LOS ANGELES—Southern California Edison Co. plans to build the nation's largest solar energy installation -- an array of collector cells covering two square miles of rooftops that could power about 162,000 homes, the utility announced Thursday.
Edison said it asked state regulators for approval to begin installing the technology on the rooftops of commercial buildings throughout the region over the next five years.
The project would cost an estimated $875 million.
Edison hopes to mount the first cells immediately on buildings in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, with some sites operational as soon as August.
"These new solar stations, which we will be installing at a rate of one megawatt a week, will provide a new source of clean energy, directly in the fast-growing regions where we need it most," said John E. Bryson, chairman and chief executive of Edison International, the utility's parent company.
A one-megawatt power plant running continuously at full capacity can power 778 households a year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The cells convert sunlight into electricity by using solar rays to trigger an electric current through a chemical reaction.
The array of solar cells placed atop commercial building rooftops across Southern California would generate 250 megawatts of electricity.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the project.
"If commercial buildings statewide partnered with utilities to put this solar technology on their rooftops, it would set off a huge wave of renewable energy growth," Schwarzenegger said.
Florida-based utility FPL Energy LLC has also sought approval from the state to build a solar energy project in California.
The company's proposed Beacon Solar Energy Project would involve more than 500,000 parabolic mirrors assembled in rows on 2,000 acres in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles.
The project, which would generate 250 megawatts of power, was expected to take about two years to complete.
Solar power from the project will be used to make steam for a turbine generator connected to an electricity grid.
The combined 500 megawatts produced by the FPL and Edison projects would increase the state's solar power flowing to the state electricity grid by just more than 50 percent.
Rosemead-based Edison provides power to 13 million people in central and Southern California.
Shares of Edison International rose 46 cents to close at $49.20 Thursday.
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Edison International: http://www.edison.com/
