Representing what is believed to be the largest solar power deployment at a corporate facility in the US, California-based semiconductor and solar panel manufacturing equipment company Applied Materials and solar panel provider SunPower announced that two SunPower solar power systems totaling 2.1 megawatts have been completed at Applied’s corporate facilities in Sunnyvale, California.

“This is another exciting milestone in the adoption of solar power in California. More companies are realizing the wisdom of integrating solar as a non-intrusive, clean, silent form of energy generation into our businesses and communities. We've converted our parking lots to power plants and we encourage others to join us in making solar power a meaningful part of the energy supply,” commented Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied.

The SunPower system installed at Applied (see photo) includes a 950 kilowatt SunPower PowerGuard installation and a 1.2 megawatt SunPower Tracker installation atop an elevated parking canopy. The SunPower Tracker follows the sun as it moves across the sky, and is meant to increase sunlight capture by up to 25% over conventional fixed-tilt systems. Both systems use SunPower solar panels, which were manufactured using Applied’s Baccini technology.

The first phase of installation began in November 2007, and since then Applied reports that the solar installation has generated 1,413 megawatt hours of power, and is expected to replace more than 2,700 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, equivalent to the annual carbon emissions from approximately 450 passenger cars.

Applied also said its investment is supported by the federal investment tax credit (ITC) that encourages deployment of renewable energy systems across the US, but is due to expire at the end of this year. Congress is now considering legislation to extend the ITC.

Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower concluded, “Congratulations to the leadership in the US Senate for their efforts to forge a bipartisan agreement on a long-term extension of the ITC. According to a new study from Navigant Consulting, an eight-year extension of the ITC would result in the creation of more than 1.2 million job opportunities and $232 billion in investment in the solar energy sector."