BrightSource Energy Wins 1.3 GigaWatt Solar Contracts

Solar power's explosive growth in California may have been stunted by the credit crisis and the recession, but the boom isn't over yet.

In what could be the world's largest solar deal to date, BrightSource Energy of Oakland announced Wednesday that it will sell Southern California Edison 1,300 megawatts of electricity from seven large solar plants planned for the California desert.

That's enough juice to light 845,000 homes, and it easily eclipses other recent deals signed by utilities here and abroad that are trying to expand their use of renewable power.

"It's a significant statement by Southern California Edison in their commitment to renewable energy and BrightSource's technology," said John Woolard, BrightSource's chief executive officer. "America and California have long called for clean renewable energy, and we look forward to working with Southern California Edison to meet this need."

That's enough for around 7% of the households, iirc. A nice bit of sunshine on this cloudy economic day. I'm still a little fascinated by Nanosolar though.