Signs of strength in the solar technology market have encouraged BP Amoco, for example, to commit significant production volume to the cells. Calif. BP says the cost of solar cells is now one-seventh of what they were in 1980, because of improved manufacturing methods and increased market demand. In northern California, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District has become an activist organization in the spread of solar power, chiefly because of the explosive population growth in its area. With more than 500,000 customers, it is the fifth-largest municipally owned electric utility in the United States in terms of customers served. The company, which goes by the nickname of SMUD, has had to address both distribution and production issues that do not face utilities serving longer-established populations, which already have poles and lines widely installed.
Power generation costs about half as much as putting in transmission lines.
So SMUD looked seriously at alternative power to reduce capital costs. It polled customers to ask if they were interested in green energy. The answer was emphatically yes and, in 1993, the utility embarked on a solar power project called the PV Pioneer Program. SMUD offers to install solar panels on the roofs of customers who volunteer to participate. Under the original plan, the utility owns and maintains the solar systems.