Editorial: Solar brightening our future

Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.

Nevada and California are making big news in the area of solar energy, news that we hope goes on to make our two states trendsetters in this emerging and vital field.

Next month, spurred on by tax incentives from the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, a North Carolina-based company is scheduled to break ground in Boulder City on what will become one of the world's largest solar plants. When construction is finished, estimated to be sometime next year, the electricity emanating from the plant at peak capacity will be enough to power 48,000 homes a day.

The plant, for now called Nevada Solar One, will be built by the Solargenix Energy Co. on 350 acres in the Eldorado Valley. Negotiations for its construction began five years ago. Since that time, solar technology has advanced and the state has guaranteed $15 million worth of tax incentives to the company as a way of jumpstarting a solar industry here.

Electricity from the $100 million plant will be sold to Nevada Power, which will help the utility address a mandate from the Legislature that 20 percent of electricity come from renewable sources by 2015.

In California, the Associated Press reported last week that energy regulators have approved $3 billion worth of customer rebates over the next decade to encourage people to install solar panels on their homes' rooftops. The goal in that state is for 1 million homes, businesses and public buildings to be equipped with solar panels within 10 years.

Energy officials in California have the same goal as Nevada does when it comes to solar energy -- provide enough incentives to get the industry started. Once the market is hospitable to solar businesses, the industry will grow, innovations will take place and dependence on fossil fuels will greatly diminish. Jobs will be created, the air will be cleaner and emissions of gases that cause global warming will be vastly reduced.

Southern Nevada and California are famous for the amount of sun they receive. We're looking forward to the day when we are also famous for the way in which we have put that sunlight to use.