Solar Power, Inc. Eyes Sacramento For Solar Development

Solar Power, Inc. (SOPW) today announced plans to build a solar panel manufacturing facility as well as a 10 megawatt solar farm in Sacramento, California. The development is made possible by the commitment from Sacramento County of $24.7 million in Recovery Zone Facility Bonds, funded by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Solar Power CEO Steve Kircher says, “Expanding our manufacturing base to California will significantly enhance our ability to meet growing demand for our solar system development expertise and our top-ranked solar panels across the U.S.” This type of investment in American manufacturing (whether of solar panels or anything else) is what ARRA funds are intended to encourage; in California, a strong history of state support makes solar development a natural choice.

Sacramento offers some of the strongest solar incentives remaining in California. Customers of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) can choose between two types of solar incentives: a one-time solar rebate, technically an expected performance-based incentive; or a production-based incentive that pays for actual production over a contracted period of time.

• Residential rebates are at an uncapped $1.90/watt rebate or a five-year, $0.35/kWh PBI right now (of the state’s investor-owned utilities whose rebates are determined by the California Solar Initiative, only SCE still has levels this high).
• Commercial or industrial customers receive $1.10/watt rebate; or a choice between PBI payments of $0.17/kWh for five years, or $0.11/kWh for ten years.