Solar American Cities

A boost for solar energy may be coming to your home town.

The Department of Energy just announced an initiative to bring more solar photovoltaic installations to key cities. The goal is to encourage U.S. cities to use solar for electricity rather than conventional forms of electricity that involve burning fossil fuel.

The 12 Solar American Cities include Houston and Austin Texas, Boston, Denver, New York City, Seattle and San Francisco, for their commitment and approach to the use of solar technologies.

They will receive federal grants and assistance with expertise plus matching amount in solar panels from an industry partner. Houston, for example, will receive 200-thousand-dollars in funds from the Department of Energy, plus $200-thousand dollars worth of solar panels from BP, a partner in the project.

The Solar American Cities project is part of President Bush's Solar America Initiative to increase the use of clean, renewable technologies. Benefits of the initiative include avoiding providing at least 5 gigawatts of electric capacity from solar - that's equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to power one-million-two-hundred-and-fifty-million homes. Replacing this amount fossil fuel based electricity with solar will avoid seven million metric tons per year of carbon dioxide emissions. Economic benefits include employment for 10,000 new workers, diversification of electricity sources, displace the costs of new electricity transmission infrastructure, and utilize safe and abundant U.S. solar resource.