Green Life

SAN FRANCISCO, California, August 15, 2008 (ENS)

Pacific Gas and Electric Company has entered into two utility-scale solar power contracts for a total of 800 megawatts of energy to be generated in California , the utility announced Thursday. The power purchase pacts bring solar photovoltaic cells out of the rooftop realm and into the mainstream.

Both huge projects will be located in San Luis Obispo County 's California Valley , although they are not adjacent to each other. When complete, they are expected to hold the record for the world's largest set of grid-connected solar photovoltaic installations.

Once the solar farms are up and running, they will deliver enough energy to power 239,000 homes a year, nearly 12 times as much electricity as the largest such plant operating today.

Generating 250 megawatts of power, SunPower's California Valley Solar Ranch is the smaller of the two. It is expected to begin power delivery in 2010 and be fully operational in 2012, using high-efficiency crystalline photovoltaic panels that generate up to 50 percent more power than conventional crystalline cells.

The larger of the two projects at 550 megawatts, OptiSolar's Topaz Solar Farm will use its own proprietary thin-film solar cells manufactured in Hayward and Sacramento .

Located on the northwestern corner of the Carrisa Plains in California Valley , this solar farm is expected to begin delivering power in 2011 and be fully operational by 2013.

Both projects are contingent upon the extension of the federal investment tax credit for renewable energy.

"These landmark agreements signal the arrival of utility-scale PV solar power that may be cost-competitive with solar thermal and wind energy," said Jack Keenan, chief operating officer and senior vice president for PG&E.

Utility-scale PV solar projects convert sunlight directly into electricity and produce the greatest amounts of power during the afternoons, when electricity demand is high, Keenan explained.

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