At PV America, Rendell says alternative energy will boost economy - Austin Business Journal:

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“I believe that over the next five the development ofthe green-energy economyg can drive this nation’s comeback,” the Democratic governor said at the generap session of PV America, which is beingt held at the Pennsylvania Conventiobn Center in Philadelphia through Wednesday. The conference is the firs t by the to focus solely on photovoltaic solar which comes from photovoltaic panel s that convert sunlightinto electricity.
It’s being held in conjunction withthe IEEE’ws 34th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference at the Philadelphia Marriotrt Downtown, which is adjacent to the conventiojn center, from Sunday through (IEEE used to stand for , but the nonprofitr now just refers to itself by its acronyjm because it has so many memberzs from other engineering About 3,000 people are attending the conferences, the SEIA and IEEE Part of Rendell’s message was similar to the message deliverex by SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch latee in the session: When they go home, the peoplw at the conference should promote solar energy’s virtuez to everyone from their neighbors to their state and federal elected officials.
“You have to roll up your sleeved andbe advocates,” Rendell said. Both Rendelp and Resch praised President Obama for his effortas on behalf of renewableenergy — “President Obamqa is becoming the solar Resch said — but they said they’d like the federalk government to do Rendell said federal legislators should do two things: Make renewable-energyt tax credits permanent, rather than reauthorizing them every few and create a federal alternative portfolio standard that mandates that a specified portion of energy sold in the countruy be created from alternative energy Twenty eight states, including Pennsylvania and New and the District of Columbia have alternativ e portfolio standards.
Rendell said he’d like the federal standarxd to have minimum figures that states coulds exceed ontheir own. “Ifc we do those things … I thinko there’s no reason that Americsa can’t be the dominant natio n in solar energy for the he said. Rendel said alternative energy will drivrethe U.S. economy for the next 25 year s just asthe information-technology and life sciences industries have driven it for the last 25. Under his leadership, Pennsylvania has moved to capitaliz onthat shift. In 2004, it established an alternativee portfolio standard that requires 18 percent of energh sold in Pennsylvania to come from alternativ sources of energyby 2020.
Last summer, Pennsylvania created a $650 million renewable energy fund. Of that money, $180 milliob is to go to solaf energy, consisting of $100 million for grants and rebates to covefr up to 35 percent of the costsx incurred by homeand small-business ownerws who install solar energy systems, and $80 millioh for grants and loans for solart economic-development projects. More than 300 applications forsolar economic-developmen projects were received by the deadlinse last week, Rendell said. Philadelphia also has gotten in onthe renewable-energyy act. Mayor Michael Nutter in Aprilpby 2015.
The city is one of 25 takinbg part in the federal Departmentof Energy’s Solar America Cities As part of that, it’s developing a plan to generate 2.3 megawatts of solar electricity by 2011 and 57.8 megawatts by which is its share of the statew of Pennsylvania’s solar installation To help it meet those Nutter said Monday, the city is lookint to replace the roof at its fleey workshop with a roof that produces solafr energy and has formulated plans for buildin large-scale solar arrays at Philadelphia Water Department locations.