Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric who wrote (11083)	7/10/2009 11:45:09 AM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86355

I wasn't thinking home-based solar but solar farms. Even in Washington state we are installing a very large solar array to power about 45,000 homes. Interesting. Guess not all of WA is like the coastal area. But the sun shines 300 days a year on the Central Washington town of Cle Elum, where developers announced plans Thursday for a 75-megawatt "solar park" they say could be up and running in about 18 months. Generous tax breaks and a citizen initiative that requires utilities to get some of their power from renewable sources also add to Washington's appeal, .... It's tough for solar power to compete with the region's cheap hydropower without financial breaks, said Tony Usibelli, director of the energy policy at the newly created Washington Department of Commerce. The state offers a sales-tax exemption for renewable-energy equipment and a reduced business-tax rate. One of the most powerful incentives is the requirement, approved by voters in 2006, that major utilities ratchet up the amount of power they get from renewable sources, reaching 15 percent by 2020. "Obviously, the idea is that tax breaks can drive technology ... and over time you hope you're able to say: This is now a commercially competitive technology," Usibelli said.