SOLAR UNITS BRING SUN POWER TO BIG FIRMS

General Motors and other firms are getting solar energy from systems installed by companies such as Developing Energy Efficient Roof Systems (also know as Deers). Deers and its investors own the cells (located on the roof of a GM parts warehouse in California) which can generate as much as 1.5 million

kw hours of electricity a year. "We assume the risk," says Jack DeLiddo, president of Deers, "because we know that companies like GM have budgets to buy electricity, not to spend millions generating it." Adds The New York Times: "Similar deals are cropping up elsewhere. Some specify that users pay the solar developers a fixed rate for electricity while others specify a fixed discount to the going rate."

In other developments, Alcoa is negotiating with developers to put solar cells on a manufacturing plant; a General Electric subsidiary has installed solar roofs to provide electricity for San Diego schools. In a deal with SunEdison, Whole Foods Markets uses solar cells in three stores and one warehouse. "Seeing whether solar would work is now on our check list tor every one of our new stores," says a Whole Foods executive.