Energy utility Edison to buy 200MW of SunPower’s solar equipment for expansion programme

11 March 2010

Solar technology manufacturer SunPower will provide 200MW of solar power capacity to Edison International, equivalent to 80 per cent of the utility’s large solar photovoltaic (PV) installation programme. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

During the next five years, Southern California Edison (SCE) plans to install, own and operate 250MW of solar generating capacity, most of it on otherwise unused large warehouse rooftops, it said.

Under the scheme, the one- to two-million watt solar installations will be connected directly to neighbourhood distribution circuits where the leased rooftops are located.

SCE president John Fielder said the cost incentive was a key factor in it contracting SunPower.

‘The anticipated benefits of this agreement with SunPower include panel costs that will allow us to meet our commitment to increasing our customers’ supply of renewable energy while reducing the cost of installed solar photovoltaic power in California,’ Fielder said.

SCE will purchase SunPower’s T5 Solar Roof Tile product, which contains a solar panel, frame and roof mounting system in a single unit.

In January, the California Public Utilities Commission approved a second track of SCE’s solar installations that will double its PV programme.

SunPower’s president, utilities and power plant business group, Howard Wenger said SCE’s commitment to rooftop solar develop is unprecedented in the utility industry.

‘The SCE programme reflects the growing value of advanced solar panel technology as a reliable, cost-effective energy resource that can be installed quickly, anywhere and at any scale,’ Wenger said.

SCE’s two installation tracks will add a total of 500MWs to the solar generating capacity of Southern California’s power resources, it said.

Copyright © 2010 NewNet

Tags: solar

This story was published on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 12:31 pm and is filed under North America, deals, solar. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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