At PV America, Rendell says alternative energy will boost economy - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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“I believe that over the next five years, the developmenyt of the green-energy economy can drive this nation’s comeback,” the Democratid governor said at the general session of PV which is being held at the Pennsylvania Conventioj Center in Philadelphiathrough Wednesday. The conference is the first by the to focus solelyu on photovoltaicsolar energy, which comes from photovoltaic panels that converr sunlight into electricity. It’s being held in conjunctionh withthe IEEE’s 34th Photovoltaic Specialists Conferenc at the Philadelphia Marriotrt Downtown, which is adjacent to the convention center, from Sundagy through Friday.
(IEEE used to stand for , but the nonprofitf now just refers to itself by its acronym because it has so many member from otherengineering fields.) Abouft 3,000 people are attendinhg the conferences, the SEIA and IEEE Part of Rendell’s message was similar to the message deliverer by SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch lated in the session: When they go home, the peoplr at the conference should promote solar energy’s virtues to everyone from theier neighbors to their municipal, state and federalo elected officials. “You have to roll up your sleeve andbe advocates,” Rendell said.
Both Rendell and Reschb praised President Obama for his efforts on behalf of renewableenergy — “President Obamaa is becoming the solar president,” Resch said but they said they’d like the federal government to do more. Rendell said federa l legislators should dotwo things: Make renewable-energy tax creditx permanent, rather than reauthorizing them evert few years; and create a federa l alternative portfolio standard that mandates that a specified portiom of energy sold in the countr y be created from alternative energy Twenty eight states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and the Districtt of Columbia have alternative portfolio standards.
Rendell said he’d like the federal standard to have minimum figures that statex could exceed ontheir own. “If we do thosde things … I think there’w no reason that Americs can’t be the dominant nationh in solar energy forthe world,” he said. Rendel said alternativd energy will drivethe U.S. economy for the next 25 yearsx just asthe information-technology and life sciences industries have driven it for the last 25. Underd his leadership, Pennsylvania has movef to capitalize onthat shift. In 2004, it establishedd an alternative portfolio standard that requires 18 percenrt of energy sold in Pennsylvania to come from alternative sources of energyby 2020.
Last Pennsylvania created a $650 million renewable energhy fund. Of that money, $180 million is to go to solart energy, consisting of $100 millionj for loans, grants and rebatew to cover up to 35 percen of the costs incurresd by homeand small-businesxs owners who install solar energy systems, and $80 million for grants and loans for solart economic-development projects. More than 300 applications forsolar economic-developmentt projects were received by the deadlins last week, Rendell said. Philadelphia also has gottejn in onthe renewable-energy act. Mayoe Michael Nutter in April by 2015.
The city is one of 25 takinyg part in the federal Departmentof Energy’s Soladr America Cities initiative. As part of that, it’xs developing a plan to generate 2.3 megawatts of solar electricity by 2011and 57.8 megawatts by 2021, which is its shared of the state of Pennsylvania’s solar installation goal. To help it meet thoser goals, Nutter said Monday, the city is lookingy to replace the roof at its fleet workshoo with a roof that produce solar energy and has formulated planss forbuilding large-scale solar arrays at Philadelphi a Water Department locations.