SunPower (SPWRA) is announcing this morning it’s signed power purchase agreements with Southern California Edison for a total of 711MW of solar power in California. The three contracts include power agreements for plants in Los Banos and Rosamond and would generate enough energy for nearly half a million homes.  Sunpower will use its Oasis modular solar block technology to get the plants up quickly and optimize the use of land.  The plants are expected to begin generating power within the next four to five years, so these projects are a ways off, but this commitment from Sun Edison is a great sign for the solar industry.

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“This historic 711-MW commitment by SCE reflects the growing value of solar photovoltaic technology as a reliable, cost-effective energy resource delivered across rooftops or as a central-station power plant,” said Howard Wenger, president of SunPower’s utility and power plants business group. “SunPower’s world-leading high-efficiency technology and history of reliable performance will maximize the solar energy delivered to SCE’s customers.”

Shares of SPWRA are up about 5% in pre-market trading.