Utilities focus on concentration

GreenVolts Inc., a San Francisco-based designer and developer of high concentration photovoltaic systems, is plotting its first utility-scale power plant in California’s Central Valley.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (NYSE: PCG) signed a power purchase agreement with GreenVolts in early July, committing to buy the electricity generated from a 2-megawatt solar power plant planned for Tracy, Calif. GreenVolt’s patent-pending technology uses mirrors licensed from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a super-efficient solar cell made by Spectrolab, a Boeing (NYSE: BA) subsidiary.

“For every dollar that goes into it, we can provide twice the amount of energy as everyone else in the field,” GreenVolts spokesman Michael Azzano says.

Founded by Bob Cart (a Bay Area entrepreneur and solar industry “hobbyist,” according to Azzano), GreenVolts has raised $1.5 million in seed money, including in-kind services and cash from taking the renewable energy prize at the 2006 California Clean Tech Open. The company recently received an undisclosed investment from Spokane, Wash.-based Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA). The utility is working with GreenVolts to build a demonstration solar power plant in eastern Washington.

PG&E also announced in July that it signed a power purchase agreement with Fresno, Calif.-based Cleantech America, which is designing a 5-megawatt concentrated solar project on 40 acres near PG&E’s Mendota substation in Fresno County.