California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday signed into law a bill that seeks to make the U.S. state one of the world's biggest producers of solar energy. The bill calls for the installation of 1 million rooftop solar panels on homes, businesses, farms, schools, and public buildings by 2018. The solar-energy systems would generate 3,000 megawatts of power, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 3 million tons-equivalent to taking 1 million cars off the state's highways-and make California the third-biggest solar producer after Japan and Germany. The new law requires homebuilders to offer solar power to home buyers beginning in 2011 and allows utility customers who place panels on their homes or businesses to sell excess power back to their utility.
