The California Public Utilities Commission recently approved the 25-year contract purchase between Pacific Gas and Electric and Sempra Generation's Copper Mountain Solar 2 project in Boulder City, Nevada, which will supply the company with 150 megawatts of solar energy.

"Copper Mountain Solar 2 represents another big step forward for Sempra Generation as we continue growing our portfolio of contracted renewable energy assets throughout the U.S.," said Jeffrey W. Martin, president and CEO of Sempra Generation. "There is a lot of excitement about starting construction on this major solar project, [and we] look forward to delivering another important source of clean energy to California consumers."

Operations at Sempra's solar power plant are expected to begin this year, with the first 92 megawatts of solar panels at Copper Mountain Solar 2 are expected to be installed by the end of  2012, and the remaining 58 megawatts is expected to be completed by 2015.

With the growing solar energy market in California, recent findings by Solarponics have found that adding solar panels to a home or office buildings proves to be a smart investment strategy.

Homes take on an increased value with the addition of solar energy structure, said Kristian Emrich, president of the company.