Highlighting his commitment to increasing the state's renewable energy and reducing our carbon footprint, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today joined Southern California Edison (SCE) officials in Fontana to announce the completion of its first of 150 planned commercial rooftop solar installations in Southern California, as well as the location of its next site which will be atop a 458,000 square-foot industrial building in Chino.
"Here in California, we are taking action to protect the environment by passing laws and setting standards and our companies and entrepreneurs are rising to the challenge," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "Edison's rooftop plan is the nation's largest solar installation program by a utility and it is just one example of how private companies are helping us reduce our emissions and meet our renewable energy goals. Projects like this one show the world you can protect the environment and also pump up the economy, and I am proud to say it is happening right here in California."
Last March, the Governor participated in an event launching SCE's plan to install photovoltaic technology to eventually cover two square miles of existing commercial roofs with 250 megawatts (MW) of peak generating capacity. This first completed project on top of the ProLogis Warehouse consists of 33,700 advanced thin-film solar panels that is generating enough power during peak output to meet the needs of approximately 1,300 Inland Empire homes or 2 MW of clean energy.
These types of renewable energy projects will help California in meeting its short- and long-term goals while also helping the state meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets under AB 32 because they produce no greenhouse gases and burn no fossil fuels.
Last month the Governor signed an executive order to streamline California's renewable energy project approval process and announced his plans to propose legislative language to expand the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33 percent renewable power by 2020.
As part of the state's efforts to increase renewable energy, the Governor's Million Solar Roofs Plan, signed into law in 2006, will provide 3,000 megawatts of additional clean energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gases by three million tons, equivalent to taking one million cars off the road. Now known as the California Solar Initiative, the $3.3 billion incentive plan for homeowners and building owners who install solar electric systems will lead to one million solar roofs in California by 2017.
While the Governor's Million Solar Roofs Plan is encouraging renewable energy production on residential and small commercial buildings, many utility companies are taking on large scale renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar farms. In October, for example, the Governor participated in the launch of Ausra's Kimberlina Solar Energy Facility in Bakersfield, which is a demonstration facility for utility-scale thermal solar energy plants, including one Ausra is building in San Luis Obispo. The solar installation project just completed by SCE in Fontana fills the gap between these small and large scale projects by finding an innovative way to generate more renewable energy on large commercial buildings in local communities.
The advanced photovoltaic generating technology being installed by SCE underscores the numerous energy efficient products and services being produced and used by California companies. According to Next10's "California Green Innovation Index" California patents account for 44 percent of all U.S. patents in solar and 37 percent in all U.S. patents in wind technologies.