Solargen Energy Inc

Solargen Energy Inc., based in Cupertino, has submitted an application to Fresno County planners for its Panoche Ranch Solar Farm on 2,600 acres of rangeland near the Little Panoche Reservoir. Solar photovoltaic panels spread across the acreage would produce up to 250 megawatts of electricity.

A few miles down Little Panoche Road, across the San Benito County line, Solargen has proposed an even larger project in the Panoche Valley, where solar panels could occupy as much as 10,000 acres and generate up to 1,000 megawatts of power.

If - and it's a big if - the projects are built, the 1,250 megawatts of electricity generated would dwarf the output of any other solar photovoltaic installation currently operating anywhere in the world. The largest such project now is a 266-acre spread of panels near Olmedilla de Alarcon, Spain, which produces 60 megawatts of electricity in peak daylight hours.

Solargen's plans are the latest - and largest - to emerge to harvest Central California's abundant sunlight to generate electricity without creating pollution.

Incentives: The extension of the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and expansion of the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program will both facilitate and improve the project’s profitability. In addition utility and direct federal and state funding is available.

Demand: The State of California has increased its Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), the allotment of energy required to be produced from renewable sources, from 20% to 33% by 2020. The dramatic increase in allotment of renewable energy sources has created a large demand for projects that are scalable to meet significantly higher mandated demand. To speed up the process, Governor Schwarzenegger has signed an Executive Order to create a Renewable Energy Action Team (REAT) to reduce the time of project permitting.

Off-take: Proposed long term, 20+ years, off-take agreements for the generated energy will be negotiated through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the local investor-owned utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, or multiple local municipal and co-operative authorities that have goals for renewable energy usage. These off-take agreements will be structured around the Market Price Referent (MPR) defined by the California Public Utility Council (CPUC).

The $1 trillion renewable energy market is large and growing rapidly. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) energy is expected to capture significant share of the market due to large government incentives that are driving down project costs.

Based on lessons learned from the wind industry, Solargen Energy has identified utility-scale solar farms as a significant long term solution to U.S. energy needs.

The Solar Market

The current 'Global Warming' phenomenon has changed the world energy scenario to focus on the importance of renewable energy sources for augmenting power production worldwide. Renewable energy is produced mainly from solar, wind, hydro and bio-mass waste, etc. Solar energy is the perennial source of energy abundantly available. Solar cells, when exposed to the sun’s radiation, produce electricity directly. Wind energy is dependent on location, wind speed and seasonal changes. Similarly, hydropower depends on rain and water reserves. It is widely believed that solar will become a major source of energy in the next decade.

The Solar Photovoltaic (PV) industry experienced a growth rate of over 40% in the last 5 years representing a phenomenal rise of more than 6 fold growth in production and 10 fold in revenue from 2003 to 2007. According to independent market reports, the global PV market is expected to continue its healthy growth at least till 2030. Today, global demand is approximately 8 to 10 gigawatts (GW) per year, where a gigawatt is one billion watts of electricity.

Solar is at par or near grid parity in several markets including Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and some states in the U.S. The State of California alone is spending heavily on grants and incentives to promote renewable energy with solar energy being the top recipient of incentives. Rising grid prices, environmental compliance costs, rising carbon prices, and growing concerns for global warming will continue to improve solar’s competitiveness.

The renewable energy market is expanding. Governments and utilities are diversifying their generation portfolios. The market is realizing the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) offered by solar energy and is rapidly driving industry growth. Opportunities for solar expansion are being driven by:

Global acceptance of government mandated Renewable Portfolio Standards "RPS", requiring a percentage of energy supplied by utilities to be generated from renewable resources, are driving demand for rapidly deployable solar solutions.
Many countries are investing in renewable energy to hedge against raising oil prices, create jobs, and reduce their dependence on foreign oil.
Despite the impact of the global credit crisis, in Q3 2008 clean technology VC investments increased from $2.2 billion in the second quarter to $2.6 billion, of which the solar industry, primarily driven by thin-film technologies, saw approximately 40% of all cleantech investments. (Deutsche Bank Group, Investing in Climate Change 2009)

SOURCE: