Warren Buffett bets $2 billion on a solar-powered future

Think Warren Buffett knows a thing or two about smart investing? Then it’s worth noting that the “Oracle of Omaha” is bullish on solar energy.

MidAmerican Energy, a holding company of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, plans to buy First Solar’s $2-billion-plus Topaz solar photovoltaic development, currently being built in San Luis Obispo County, California. Once it’s completed, the 550-megawatt solar farm — one of the two largest photovoltaic projects in the world — is expected to generated enough energy to meet the power needs of around 160,000 average California homes.

The billionaire Buffett has already invested in clean technologies from wind power to electric cars. The Topaz acquisition is expected to build on that foundation.

“MidAmerican is the No. 1 owner of wind-powered energy generation among US rate-regulated utilities,” said Greg Abel, chairman, president and CEO of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. “Adding solar energy to our generation portfolio is a strategic move to invest in yet another renewable energy source.”

Abel added, “This project also demonstrates that solar energy is a commercially viable technology without the support of governmental loan guarantees and reflects the type of solar and other renewable generation that MidAmerican will continue to seek to add to its unregulated portfolio.”

First Solar has agreed to build, operate and maintain the Topaz project for MidAmerican. It claims the facility’s thin-film modules have the smallest carbon footprint of any photovoltaic technology. Construction on the solar farm began in November 2011 and is expected to be complete by early 2015.

Energy generated by the project will be purchased by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) under a 25-year power purchase agreement.