With the amount of sun we receive, this is a very good move, and one that should be followed by other communities as the solar technology improves and green building becomes more mainstream.
A very good thing for our region.
SMUD, home builder strike deal for 1,487 solar-powered homes
By Jim Wasserman - jwasserman@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, April 5, 2008
A Utah home builder and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District have struck a deal to build 1,487 solar-powered homes in Rancho Cordova and Rancho Murieta by 2012, the parties announced Friday.
The utility calls the agreement with Woodside Homes the nation's largest solar-home project so far, keeping the capital region at the forefront of efforts to power homes with sunlight.
Sacramento receives an average of about 320 days of sunshine a year.
Thirteen months ago SMUD announced a similar deal with Miami-based Lennar Corp. for 1,254 new homes in Sacramento County. That was then called the largest partnership in the country. Lennar last year also reached agreement with Roseville Electric to build 650 solar homes there.
A Woodside official said the deal is a response to demand.
"We have had a steady stream of folks coming to our office asking, 'Are you solar?' " said Brian Cuttings, project manager at Woodside's Sacramento division. "We see there's a definite segment of the market that says you've got to have solar."
More than 1,000 of the homes are proposed for Rancho Cordova subdivisions at Douglas and Grant Line roads. Another 350 are planned in the firm's Sunridge Park subdivisions in Rancho Cordova, and 99 more are scheduled to be built in Rancho Murieta.
