San Francisco- based Q-Cells North America, a division of the Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany-based major solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer, and its contractor, Sonora, California-based Tri-Technic, are nearing completion on the latest stage of a utility owned generation (UOG) program for Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E (News - Alert))

Through the UOG program, PG&E will develop 250 megawatts (MW) of utility-owned solar PV, in annual installments of 50 MW over a five-year period. As part of the 2012 installment of the UOG program, Q-Cells North America has an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract to build two solar power plants — the 10- MW Giffen Solar Station; and the 20-MW Cantua Solar Station — in California’s Central Valley in Fresno County.

“Q-Cells’ partnership with PG&E is another example of our highly competitive solar PV solutions for the North American market,” said Marc van Gerven, managing director of Q-Cells North America.

Since 2002, San Francisco-based PG&E has signed more than 110 contracts for about 10,000 megawatts of renewable power. PG&E now expects to be able to meet California's Renewables Portfolio Standard, which requires all retail sellers of electricity to deliver 33 percent of their energy by 2020 from eligible renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and small hydroelectric power generation. The utility is on track to reach 20 percent this year. Along with large hydro and nuclear power, PG&E now typically gets more than half of its electricity from sources that are essentially carbon-free, making it one of the cleanest utilities in the United States.

Last September, PG&E completed the first stage of its program, opening three new solar plants —  the 15-megawatt Westside Solar Station, the 15-megawatt Five Points Solar Station, and the 20-megawatt Stroud Solar Station — in the farming community of Five Points in West Fresno County. They were built at a cost of about $255 million.

PG&E’s 20-megawatt Stroud Solar Station opened last September in the first stage of the UOG program.

In a joint effort with Q-Cells, Sonora, California-basedTri-Technic, a 30- year-old general/electrical construction company, has been awarded the electrical installation of the solar equipment  including inverters from Boston-based Satcon and solar combiner boxes from AMtec Solar, also based in San Francisco.. More than 250,000 solar panels have been deployed.

The project encompasses hundreds of acres and includes over 300 miles of copper cabling, and tens of thousands of racks.

Chris Payne, CEO of Tri-Technic, stated, “Both PG&E and Q-Cells have expressed their pleasure with the progress, professionalism, quality, and safety of the project undertaken by Tri-Technic. We continue to complete this project on schedule and on budget, while committing to always exceeding our customers’ expectations.”