Solar Power for Dry Cells The new roof
on a California jail will keep prisoners out of the rain -- and be the
largest photovoltaic installation of its kind in the U.S.
Blackouts have been good for business at PowerLight
Corp., which makes and installs grid-connected solar-electricity systems.
As California's chaotic power-industry deregulation spawned rolling
blackouts and spiraling energy bills, it also boosted PowerLight's
business, says Janice Lin, director of business development at the
company, which is headquartered in Berkeley, Calif.
"There has
been a lot of interest in solar because...customers can control their
destiny," says Lin, whose 10-year-old company is installing a 500-kilowatt
system -- roof tiles incorporating photovoltaic technology and R10
insulation -- atop the Santa Rita jail in Dublin, Calif.
The
Alameda County Board of Supervisors expects the project, which will be the
biggest rooftop-mounted solar-energy system in the U.S., to supply about
20% of the jail's electrical needs. Due to be completed this summer, the
installation will cost $2.9 million, according to the Board of
Supervisors' public records, and will be the first of several similar
solar-energy upgrades planned for county buildings. For this company,
which is in the right place at the right time, the blackout cloud has a
photovoltaic lining. By Theresa Forsman in New
York
Blackouts have been good for business at PowerLight
Corp., which makes and installs grid-connected solar-electricity systems.
As California's chaotic power-industry deregulation spawned rolling
blackouts and spiraling energy bills, it also boosted PowerLight's
business, says Janice Lin, director of business development at the
company, which is headquartered in Berkeley, Calif. 
Copyright 2001 , by The McGraw-Hill
Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
