Jul 31 2010
Southern California Edison (SCE), a public utility company based in California, has taken a decision to produce 60 MW of clean energy utilizing photovoltaic solar panels and awarded solar power production contracts, to 36 independent solar power producers. The utility plans to install 31 panels over unused roof tops and five panels at ground locations within its utility service area.
Earlier during June 2009 California Public Utilities Commission, has approved a proposal to generate 500 MW solar power, utilizing the unexploited roof tops of warehouses., Heeding to the appeals made by Southern California Edison independent power producers have agreed to provide 250 MW power under competitive rates and the balance of 250 MW will be produced by SCE from its own managed and operated installations. The proposed project is expected to create over 1200 employment opportunities for the residents of Southern California.
The solar rooftop initiative is expected to help the industry as well as the consumers, in the form of more sales and cost effective installations. On completion, the project will cover approximately four square miles of unused roof area with solar panels and will produce enough electricity to supply 325,000 average homes in Southern California. Currently SCE has installed three such roof top panels that deliver electricity to the grid.
Marc Ulrich, who holds the position of Vice President, Renewable and Alternative Power, in SCE, said, the new contracts are precise steps in achieving distributed green energy generation under the initiative of a novel solar program. He made known the million solar roof aim of the government to provide on demand power supply without the need of investing in bigger and newer transmission installations.