Solar Energy

On the scorched floor of Israel's Negev Desert blooms a field of 1,640 robotic mirrors that behave like sunflowers. Slightly larger than pingpong tables and guided by a computer, they turn imperceptibly to follow the sun and focus its rays on the pinnacle of a 200-foot tower, where a water boiler will soon start producing high-pressure steam.

A look at upcoming news events: Today Solar energy: U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Department of Energy hold a forum on environmental concerns and solar energy development across the Southwest. Tuesday O.C. supervisors: The leaders will meet in regular session to consider a proposal to separate the sheriff's and coroner's offices, then abolish the coroner's office and establish an office of medical examiner. Downtown housing: Central City Assn. of Los Angeles holds a forum to discuss the current and future state of the downtown housing market.

Intel Corp. plans to spin off its solar technology business, creating a company called SpectraWatt Inc. and contributing to a $50-million investment in the venture. SpectraWatt will open a plant in Oregon in the second half of the year that will make photovoltaic cells and develop ways to cut the cost of solar technology, Intel said. Shipments will probably start in the middle of 2009, Intel said.

With a heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, Hawaii has become the first state to require solar water heaters in new homes, pleasing environmentalists but leading opponents to note the island chain's already high home prices. Republican Gov. Linda Lingle signed a bill this week that requires the energy-saving systems starting in 2010. She said the law was "another important step in our long-term plan for energy independence in Hawaii." Hawaiian Electric Co.

In a city with constant electricity shortages but no lack of sunshine, the new buzz is solar energy. Teams of engineers have appeared along major Baghdad roadways, bolting panels and bulbs to rows of towering steel poles to make solar-powered streetlights. The workers who turned up recently in the upscale Karada district approached the task with near-religious fervor. "We are lighting up the city with solar power," Sajad Hussein declared when queried by curious residents.

Officials at Yosemite International Airport are installing what they say will be the largest solar energy project at a U.S. commercial airport. Under a 25-year agreement, the Fresno airport is hiring a private company to design, install and maintain 11,700 solar panels on 9.5 acres. That will be enough to provide 40% of the airport's daily electrical needs. The airport will buy the electricity generated by the panels from New Jersey-based WorldWater & Solar Technologies. Airport officials say using renewable energy will decrease their overhead costs and improve their finances.

Berkeley and Palm Desert may be poles apart when it comes to politics. But the two cities are pioneering a new path to solar energy. Pushed by these unlikely municipal bedfellows, California on Monday enacted a law that allows cities and counties to make low-interest loans to homeowners and businesses to install solar panels, high-efficiency air conditioners and other energy-saving improvements. Participants can pay back the loans over decades through property taxes.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has signed contracts to buy enough solar energy to power 239,000 homes a year. The utility said Thursday that it would buy 800 megawatts of renewable energy from subsidiaries of Hayward-based OptiSolar Inc. and San Jose-based SunPower Corp. The electricity will come from two large-scale solar projects to be built in San Luis Obispo County on the Central California coast. OptiSolar's 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm project is expected to begin delivering power in 2011.

A long-delayed project to attract computer chip makers to the Mexico-California border is getting a green makeover. Silicon Border Development said Wednesday that it had obtained financing to move ahead with a science park in Mexicali, Mexico, thanks largely to a new strategy of targeting companies in the fast-growing solar energy industry. German solar cell manufacturer Q-Cells is on track to break ground soon in the 3,000-acre site just across the border from Calexico, Calif.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and three City Council members have thrown their support behind a proposal to install enough rooftop solar panels on buildings across the city to power 100,000 residential customers of the Department of Water and Power by 2013. The proposal, which would appear on the March 3 ballot, was developed by Working Californians, a pro-labor advocacy group with strong ties to the union that represents DWP workers.