Green Wombat

Silicon Valley’s nascent solar industry has formed an alliance called SolarTech that aims to make the San Francisco Bay Area the epicenter of alternative energy, much as it became the nation’s high tech capital two decades ago. The goal is to turn a niche business into a mass market source of electricity by standardizing solar panel installation, permitting, grid connection, power measurement and financing. "California is the leading adopter of solar power in the United States by far, representing over 75 percent of that market, thus making California the third largest market for solar power worldwide," SolarTech states in a white paper released today. "These embedded economic drivers point to a substantial economic and job growth opportunity for Silicon Valley if we adopt a similar path as the high tech industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Silicon Valley is uniquely well positioned to help drive this growth through our abundant resources of engineering talent, world-class educational system, and financial capital."

SolarTech members include solar-cell makers SunPower (SPWR) and Sharp, thin-film solar startup Miasole, concentrator photovoltaic firm SolFocus, installation firm REGrid Power, Northern California utility PG&E (PCG) and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the de facto trade arm of the valley’s tech industry.

The alliance’s white paper discusses the hurdles to widespread adoption of solar power by California homeowners and businesses – from a mishmash of municipal permitting requirements that can delay and drive up the cost of installing solar panels to a lack of statewide standards for connecting solar systems to the grid.  But one of the more innovative proposals from SolarTech involves financing solar energy systems. Even with the rebates offered through California’s solar program, it can still cost tens of thousands of dollars to install a rooftop solar array that won’t pay for itself in lower electricity costs for another eight to 12 years.

SolarTech proposes the widespread adoption of the power purchase agreement model used by companies like San Francisco’s MMA Renewable Ventures (MMA), which finances the installation of huge commercial solar arrays for corporate clients. MMA Renewable retains ownership of the rooftop systems and sells the electricity back to the client at a discounted rate. SolarTech proposes an online market to match up solar power providers and purchasers. The upside for business owners – or even homeowners if the model was adapted for residential solar power – is that they get clean green energy without forking out the capital costs of installing rooftop systems. The solar financiers reap the benefit of renewable energy tax breaks, rebates and tradeable credits associated with the projects.

Lastly, SolarTech wants to radically reduce the time it takes to install a solar energy system and connect it to the grid – now typically 29 to 50 weeks – to five weeks. "We envision Silicon Valley as the leader in developing, delivering, and growing solar power for our state, our nation, and indeed, the entire world, and through this effort, we anticipate helping to deliver tens of thousands of new jobs," the white paper states. "We are committed to nothing short of turning Silicon Valley into Solar Valley."