With the flip of a ceremonial switch, Microsoft Corp dedicated a half-acre of solar panels on its Silicon Valley campus, bringing California closer to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s goal of 1mn solar roofs.<\/p>\n
That leaves about 980,000 to go. Schwarzenegger, 58, is pouring $3.2bn into solar energy, and investors are snapping up shares of solar-equipment companies.<\/p>\n
Hedge funds including SAC Capital Advisors LLC and GLG Partners LP have solar-power investments in the state. Even so, solar provides just 0.2% of California\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s electricity.<\/p>\n
\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cIt\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s pathetic how few systems we have to date, given that the technology has been around for 30 years,\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 said Bernadette Del Chiaro, 34, clean-energy advocate for the Sacramento-based group Environment California.<\/p>\n
The state had fewer than 20,000 solar roofs at the end March, according to the California Energy Commission. The panels on those roofs, even when combined with a solar-generating plant in the desert, took all year to provide 660MW-hours of power. It takes 40 minutes for that much electricity to be generated by Rosemead, California-based Edison International\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s new natural-gas-fired plant in Redlands.<\/p>\n