Solar Power California Jobs – Green Energy Employment




In California Southern California with its more than 20 million residents has the greatest demand for power in the United States. The scarcity of water resources coupled with abundant sunshine and huge amount of available land make Southern California the ideal place to generate solar power.

Solar Power is green energy that helps to reduce greenhouse gas emission thereby lessening the carbon footprint; both President Barack Obama and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger advocate the generation and usage of solar power.

Presently there are 11 large solar thermal farms that are going through the nitty-gritty to get the permits from the California Energy Commission. There is a mad rush to get the approval for these industrial sized projects since Federal stimulus funds, which could amount up to 30% of the projects’ costs, is going to expire by the end of 2010 and this contribution is going to be available only if the projects start by the end of the year.

If all these projects get materialized, the federal contribution towards the costs is going to be nearly ten billion dollars. It is a difficult proposition to balance energy needs and economic benefits without compromising on environmental concerns and therefore, this deadline has created the importance of coordination between different interest groups having billions of dollars riding on these projects.

Some environmentalists want to ensure that these projects take care of all these areas without flouting environmental laws; however, some are of the opinion that a minor amount of habitat destruction is worth the substantial economic and energy gains from these projects. 10 of these 11 proposed solar farms are going to be based in desert areas with one of these in the southern San Joaquin Valley and one of these 11 proposed farms is going to be located around 4.5 miles southwest of Primm Valley, Nevada on the Ivanpah dry lakebed; this is why this project is going to be called the “Ivanpah” farm.

The project would require hundreds of construction workers in the short term and 50 employees in the long term for its operation; therefore, it is going to have enormous economic impact on the Primm area. Once operational, the Ivanpah solar farm is going to generate green energy sufficient to cater to the electricity demands of more than half a million California homes and is also going to provide a big boost to the California utility companies since, under the federal mandate, by the year 2020 these companies would be required to consume 33% of their energy demand from renewable resources.



To comply with the environmental laws that required lessening of damage to desert tortoise and other rare plant habitats, the Ivanpah solar project has been restricted to 3,500 acres, which is a reduction of 12% from the original size. The tight timeline has made the project developers skeptical as to whether the deadline for the federal stimulus is going to be extended or not. Regarding this the California Senator, Dianne Feinstein has proposed legislation; however, since there is no guarantee of an extension, these solar farm projects are trying level best to get approval by the year end.

In a year, the California Energy Commission approves about 7 major energy projects in the state, which typically include natural gas or other energy sources. These projects are creating unprecedented demands on the energy commission, which is stretched to the limit, not only due to the tight deadline for the federal stimulus funds, but also for the employment opportunities that these can bring, once underway.

Solar Energy In California – Renewable Energy State




By tradition, Japan and Germany have shown the way in promoting the use of solar energy for daily consumption by converting sunlight into electricity. Nevertheless, it appears that the state of California in the US is making rapid strides in the sustainable and renewable energy industry.

At this rate, in the foreseeable future it will take giant step forward in the generation of pollution-free and renewable solar energy. Here are the major reasons why California is poised to become the world leader in ‘clean energy technology’ and why this is possible.

California has an excellent background in supporting technological advances, as is evident in computer industry. As per the Climate Group, $523 million was invested in ‘clean tech industry’ in California in 2005. The clean tech industry is a combination of energy generation concepts, research and development and manufacture of equipment that generate pollution-free and renewable energy.

It envisages an investment of $167 billion in the industry all over the world by 2015. It also considers that around 20,000 to 83,000 jobs may be created in California in the clean tech industry.

At present, for the first quarter of 2007, the venture capital enterprises have funded the clean tech industry in California to the tune of $307 million. This is twice the amount invested in the whole of Europe for the same period. This inflow of funds has shown downward trend for two most significant reasons.

The first is that the state government has promoted the use of ‘cleaner energy’, particularly solar energy through state laws and financial assistance. Around $3 billion is being earmarked for investment in a 10 year plan that expects to see solar panels on every roof -top throughout California. The state Government anticipates that 20% of the energy generated through renewable sources, especially solar energy will be utilized in homes.

Legislation is on the anvil that will focus on supporting those business enterprises that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation proposed will also include a clause for rewarding companies that can be more Eco-friendly in future as well.

The second aspect for supporting pioneering efforts in the area of cleaner energy resources is the novel nature of business traditions in California. Lots of companies and their products are developed on the strength of finance provided by venture capital institutions. Liberal investors are prepared to put their stakes on a specific concept or product.



While some may not yield any positive results, others will be successful. This has been established in the computer industry which draws people who have flair for innovations and encourage speedy development of products. This is specially the case in the solar energy industry where solar cells and panels continue to be developed making use of new materials.

One of the bottle necks in the solar industry was that earlier silicon was used to produce solar panels. This was very costly and also involved considerable time to develop as silicon stocks had exhausted. The new panels designed are much easier to install on the usual places, such as roof top.

Research efforts are under way to enhance the working efficiency of solar cells and panel. Clean tech industries and especially, solar power are fully geared to become a growth industry in California. This is not because of any locational advantages of the state but due to the determination of the industry and the government to ensure that the sound solar technology is very useful in day to day life.

Solar Power Lighting Technologies – How They Benefit Us




Our daily lives can hardly move forward if we did not have lighting. Lighting makes us feel safe and secure and we have really got used to getting it just by flicking on a switch.

The extent to which we are affected by power cuts shows us how dependent we are on electricity to provide us light and other amenities. We use light in various ways and for a lot of facilities.

Today light fixtures come in a multitude of models to suit our taste and the ambiance we wish to create in our surroundings. The usual source of lighting in our homes and offices is electricity and overhead lamps.

But we also have mobile sources of lighting such as flash lights which are powered by batteries. Given the growing scarcity of electricity and our increasing power needs, not to mention the importance being given to protecting the environment, the world’s focus is now turning towards solar power which is clean as well as plentifully available.

All we need to do is to incorporate the solar power lighting technologies that are available and we can have lighting both indoors as well as outdoors. In the long run you can save both money as well as the environment.

Indoor Lighting

Once you have installed a solar power lighting source, you can light up your home and garden easily. You need not change your wiring or the bulbs that are already in use. All you need is a few hours of uninterrupted sunlight to create the electrical energy. Solar light installations are relatively easy and cheap to maintain.



Your most important investment would obviously be the solar panel to collect energy from sunlight whose size will depend on your lighting needs. Today there are lots of solar panel manufacturers for every kind of requirement. Solar installations are popular in farm houses and barns.

Once you tap the required amount of energy with the help of your solar panel, you can enjoy uninterrupted lighting within and outside the house without worrying about cost or pollution or any other issues.

Outdoor Lighting

There are plenty of options available for this. You store up energy during the day and have well lit roads and gardens at night in a most clean and inexpensive way. As already mentioned, there are innumerable manufacturers offering a wide variety of options to light roads, pathways, pools, gardens, etc. using LED colors and accessories to meet your landscaping needs.

There are plenty of proud home owners who love to display their beautiful landscape at night with colorful and imaginative lighting. Solar powered lights are most ideal given their cost efficiency and the myriad varieties that they come in.

From the view point of installation too, solar lights are really great. You just need to find a spot that receives a lot of sunlight and the rest is really easy. The usual solar lighting includes a stake that is fixed to the ground and the solar light is mounted on top of it.

The cheapest ones are made of hard durable plastic and the more expensive ones will be constructed of stainless steel and glass. If at all there is a disadvantage, solar lights may not offer as powerful an illumination as electricity powered lamps. But the benefits far outweigh this one small disadvantage.

Solar powered lamps are very soothing to the eye and they are also stylish. Your initial investment can easily be recovered in no time and in the long run you get power at almost no cost thanks to the low maintenance costs and freely available sunlight.