SiliconBeat

Lots of news on the solar beat today.

OptiSolar of Hayward was last in the news when it laid off half of its 600-person staff in January. Today, the company’s portfolio of solar projects, including a 550MW deal with PG&E, was scooped up by First Solar, the aggressive thin-film PV company based in Arizona.

That $400-million deal could mean 400 new green-collar jobs.

Gov. Schwarzenegger, who like other politicians is watching many things fall apart, economic-wise, was happy with the news.

“The Governor is pleased that First Solar has committed to making such a huge investment in California’s renewable energy projects. This type of utility-scale solar electric power is an example of the kinds of technologies that we need to meet our long-term energy and climate change goals while creating new jobs,” said Lisa Page, his chief deputy press secretary.

Meanwhile, a few hours earlier, San Francisco’s MMA Renewable Ventures, the financing firm that put together SunPower’s huge solar array at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, was acquired by Fotowatio, a Spanish solar developer.  That value of that deal — which includes 35MW worth of projects plus several hundred more in the pipeline –  was just under $20 million.

California’s Public Utilities Commission issued its Q1 2009 report on how we’re doing in reaching the state’s goal for renewable energy — 20% by 2010 and 33% by 2020 for investor-owned utilities (IOUs) such as PG&E.

The bottom line: Solicitation from PG&E, SouCal Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric for future generation resulted in bids for about 24,000 MW worth of renewable power, “more capacity than is needed to reach a 33% target by 2020.”

In 2008, the state added 516 MW of renewable generating capacity, and the CPUC approved contracts for another 2,800 MW. (One MW is enough power for 750 California homes, although many renewable sources are intermittent — solar energy when the sun shines, wind energy when the wind blows, etc.)

The CPUC approved 7 contracts for PG&E in 2008, representing 651 MW of new renewable generation.

The report is available here.