Utah Clean Energy, a nonprofit group that works to promote the use of sustainable energy technologies in the state, is teaming up with Utah Power in the hope of launching a pilot program and study that may hasten the arrival of that day.

"There still are financial barriers that have to be overcome before photovoltaic [solar] cells can be put into widespread use in Utah," said Sarah Wright, executive director of Utah Clean Energy. "The ultimate benefits, though, to the environment, consumers and even the utilities promise to be enormous."

The proposed study will be designed to gather information on the viability of funding the expansion of solar resources by encouraging consumers to invest in the technology through a combination of tax incentives and a "buy down program" under which Utah Power would help pay a portion of the cost of the systems.

And Wright said Utah Clean Energy expects the program over the next five years will result in 500 kilowatts of installed capacity, with that power uploaded onto Utah Power's transmission system.

"Right now there probably is only about 100 kilowatts of grid-tied solar systems," Wright said.

For Utah Power, the study will help it gather information on how it can best integrate small, widely distributed solar systems into its power grid, company spokesman Dave Eskelsen said.

"Although we primarily produce electricity from our large power plants, we're still interested in how solar and other 'distributed' resources, including wind and small hydroelectric facilities, can help us meet the growing demand for power during periods of peak use," Eskelsen said.

There is one catch.

The pilot program has yet to be approved by Utah's utility regulators on the Public Service Commission.

And Utah Power said its participation in the program is contingent on the PSC giving it approval to recover the cost of the project - estimated at about $300,000 a year - in the rates it charges its customers for electricity.

Utah Power is requesting the funding for the program its $194 million rate-increase request pending before the PSC.

Wright estimated that a photovoltaic system capable of producing 1,600 kilowatt hours of electricity a year would cost a home or business owner between $8,000 to $10,000 to install. A typical homeowner, however, uses about 700 kilowatt hours of electricity a month.