This is a great article about a huge solar project in Sacramento. Enjoy.
By Jim Downing
jdowning@sacbee.com


Published: Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 8B


The roof of a North Sacramento plastics factory will host the biggest West Coast installation of a new type of solar panel.

The technology, built by Fremont’s Solyndra Inc., uses racks of solar cells roughly the size and shape of long fluorescent light tubes. The shape allows the panels to harvest sunlight from any angle, including what’s reflected from the white rooftops common on large commercial buildings.

The technology promises to cut the cost of solar power.

In March, Solyndra gained a $535 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to greatly increase its Fremont-based manufacturing operations. According to news reports, the company has contracts for orders worth more than $2 billion.

The 208-kilowatt system atop Sacramento’s Plastic Package Inc. will supply about one-third of the factory’s annual electricity needs, according to company Chairman Jim Kaye.

Plastic Package has been in Sacramento since 1984 and makes mostly food containers and trays. About a quarter of the raw material used in the plant is post-consumer recycled plastic, Kaye said.

The $1.3 million system was supported by a 30 percent subsidy from a federal renewable-energy program.

In addition, for five years SMUD will pay 30 cents for every kilowatt-hour of energy the project produces. That subsidy rate is set to decrease for future solar projects.

The SMUD subsidy is drawn from a fund created under a 2006 state law that promotes solar power. SMUD customers now pay 2 cents into the fund for every 100 kilowatt-hours billed.

Starting Jan. 1, ratepayers’ contribution will rise to 9 cents per 100 kilowatt-hours, according to Jim Barnett, who oversees some of SMUD’s solar programs.

Plastic Package’s Kaye said he expects his solar system to pay for itself in five to six years. After that, power generated by the panels is virtually free.

A ribbon-cutting for the installation with Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, is scheduled for today.


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