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Greening San Diego's Economy

The $787 billion federal economic stimulus package includes money that could benefit San Diego companies in the renewable energy business, including wind and solar. KPBS Environment Reporter Ed Joyce

Greening San Diego's Economy

The $787 billion federal economic stimulus package includes money that could benefit San Diego companies in the renewable energy business, including wind and solar. KPBS Environment Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The federal stimulus package provides $6 billion in government tax breaks and other incentives to create jobs in "green" industries such as solar.

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San Diego-based Envision Solar installs solar panels on parking structures and parking lots.

Envision Solar CEO Bob Noble says the federal money may help to spur more projects at a time when companies are struggling.

Noble:
All the incentives are important. In fact, we should have more and more incentives. Countries like Germany and Japan have had significant support for their solar industries and therefore they became leaders worldwide.

He says solar companies are working to produce more systems that generate electricity at the same cost the local utility charges.

Noble says affordable costs along with federal and state incentives could push more companies to buy solar.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

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