Last week, The US Department of Interior approved what will be the largest solar photovoltaic farm on public lands yet, a 550 megawatt electrical power system that will generate 630 jobs, and infuse $336 million in to the local economy. Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, a 550-megawatt (MW) solar power project "will generate enough power for 165,000 homes."
Support for expansion of alternative energy is one area that President Obama, and his administration deserve much credit. I wish he would brag more about these authentic and successful Keynesian stimuli to our economy. These are huge additions to our solar PV generating capacity that have received government loans, and Department of Interior approvals.
PV Solar Farm
Secretary Salazar said, "with 12 large-scale solar projects approved in the last 18 months, we continue to make significant strides in spurring innovation, job-creation, and investment in the private sector while strengthening America's energy security." ...
The project will also generate about $27 million in sales and property tax revenue to Riverside County.
Located on approximately 4,100 acres of public lands, the solar project will be developed and operated by Desert Sunlight Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of First Solar Inc. The facility will use First Solar's thin film photovoltaic (PV) technology, which generates electricity with low visual impact, no air emissions, waste production or water use, and has the smallest carbon footprint of any PV technology.
These are huge expansions of our nation's solar PV generating capacity, and California continues to lead the way.
Secretary of Interior, Kenneth Salazar deserves credit for the foresight to establish this goal and deliver the goods. We should all be supporting the administration in this areas of success, and encourage them to continue.
It is the 12th solar project to advance since Secretary made renewable energy a priority for the Department in March 2009, and the 3rd solar project in 2011. In July, Salazar approved two utility-scale solar developments in California, a wind energy project in Oregon, and a transmission line in Southern California that together will create more than 1,300 construction jobs and provide a combined 550 megawatts of electricity.
This new 550 megawatts of photovoltaic generating capacity, combined with the 550 megawatts approved July, is 1.1 gigawatts of new solar capacity.
To put this in perspective, here's an article from October, 2010 predicting that the entire new capacity for the the US in 2011 might be "as high" as 1 gigawatt, for the entire country. So just this two months of announcements is higher. This is exponential growth in action.
U.S. Solar Market Could Reach 1-GW of Installed Capacity in 2010
The U.S. solar electric market, including both photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) installations, could surpass one gigawatt of installed capacity in a year for the first time, according to the inaugural U.S. Solar Market Insight.
The report, released by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research, forecasts that 944 megawatts of solar electric capacity (comprised of 866 MW of PV and 79 MW of CSP) will be installed in the U.S. in 2010. This represents a growth of 114 percent over the 441 megawatts of solar electric capacity added in 2009, according to researchers.
“First half solar installations grew beyond expectations as a result of declining prices, continued government support and improving financial conditions,” said Shayle Kann, Managing Director, Solar at GTM Research, in a statement.
The report’s high forecast projects as much as 1.13 gigawatts being installed by year’s end, a 156 percent increase over 2009. The report projects a stronger second half for 2010 thanks to one large CSP project, several large PV projects and continued strength in the residential and non-residential markets.
California led states for solar electric capacity installed in the first six months of 2010 with 12 megawatts, followed by New Jersey, Arizona and Florida. In total, 341 megawatts were installed in the first half of the year, say researchers.
DOE's Solar Cost Penetration Projection
This Department of Energy projection of cost and installed base appears to be based on 2007 data that is already been surpassed, illustrates how powerful positive feedback loops can be in generated exponential growth.
The total capacity of just these last two months of Department of Interior projects alone exceed the entire amount of new solar PV capacity installed last year.
From memory that might be wrong, I believe that the entire solar PV capacity of the world is expected to be about 50 Gigawatts at the end of 2011, so these three recent plants would represent 2% of the total capacity of the world so far. I apologize in advance if this is wrong, but I want folks to realize what investments this large mean in historical, and global contexts. Now matter how you count it, these will be huge additions to our nation's solar PV generating capacity.
Home rooftop PV installations are also breaking records.
We should be studying these example for ways to stimulate jobs, wages, and economic growth for our nation.
10:38 AM PT: Someone should tell Axelrod and Plouffe, that the President should show up at everyone of these announcements, and ground breaking ceremonies to take credit for tangible accomplishments his administration deserves much credit for, that are making our economy better, creating jobs, local tax revenues, reducing foreign oil imports, or CO2 footprint, and improving our future.
What says "winning the future" with more substance and tangible benefit than these job, and tax revenue generating projects building a better tomorrow?
I have to double check the numbers but I believe it is possible that President Obama could take credit for having supported, with loans, and/or tax credit, and Department of Interior approvals more new solar power generation capacity, than existed before his election.
I hope folks are not "shocked, truly shocked, to hear me suggest we should introduce politics into something as important as a presidential election, or energy policy, but it might be helpful.