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Some of the biggest boosters of solar power are bound to be utility companies, eager for a clean source of electricity that will enable them to produce more power without new billion-dollar plants. Both as consumers of solar technology and as the promoters of home solar panels, utilities will drive much of the industry's growth into the next century. "Utilities are beginning to realize that they're going to have to get on the solar bandwagon," says S. David Freeman, general manager of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). "If they don't and rates go up sharply...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Here Comes the Sun | 10/18/1993 | See Source »

Last month 68 utilities, from New York City's Consolidated Edison to San Francisco's Pacific Gas & Electric, formed a consortium to purchase $500 million worth of solar panels over the next six years. These utilities, which serve 40% of the country's electric customers, hope solar power can help replace aging plants that will begin phasing out by the end of the decade. Says Scott Sklar, director of the Solar Energy Industries Association, which represents more than 500 U.S. solar-equipment makers: "This will allow the solar industry to double its manufacturing capacity and acquire new capital to ramp...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Here Comes the Sun | 10/18/1993 | See Source »

...utility is more enthusiastic about letting the sun shine in than SMUD, which is putting solar cells on 100 residential roofs a year as part of a five-year pilot project. Homeowners pay nothing for the installation but see a 15% surcharge on their monthly bills to help defray the cost. Even so, the chance to become a solar citizen has enticed more volunteers than SMUD can accommodate. Encouraged by the response, the utility has ordered 100,000 more solar panels, enough to generate electricity for 2,400 homes, and is purchasing land for a 100-MW solar furnace that...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Here Comes the Sun | 10/18/1993 | See Source »

What SMUD is doing parallels what developing countries have been up to for more than a decade. These nations, which cannot afford to build costly nuclear or fossil-fuel plants in rural areas, now buy nearly two-thirds of all solar panels produced in the U.S. "In Mexico there are 28 million people without electricity, and Mexico has the most ambitious solar electrification program in the world," says Sklar. Elsewhere, India and Zimbabwe are using World Bank financing to light up remote areas with solar power; India is installing photovoltaic systems in 38,000 villages, and Zimbabwe is bringing...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Here Comes the Sun | 10/18/1993 | See Source »

...where there is little government help, the Real Goods catalog has become the bible of America's environmentally aware set. With a circulation of 400,000, the catalog offers everything for the energy-efficient home, including composting toilets, solar radios and wind generators in addition to solar equipment. Hot-selling items include fold-up solar panels the size of a briefcase that can power laptop computers. Technicians at Real Goods headquarters in Ukiah, California, stand ready to handle customers' questions and help plan alternative energy systems over the phone...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Here Comes the Sun | 10/18/1993 | See Source »

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