Lone Star rising: The annual Solar Power International (SPI) took a big chance, moving from its California comfort zone to the uncharted territories of Texas. Drew Robb reports.

CALIFORNIA HAS been the home of SPI for many years now – and for good reason. The Golden State represents the bulk of Photovoltaic (PV) installations, and has long been the engine for U.S. solar enthusiasm. But keynote speaker Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), was quick to emphasise the renewable credentials of Texas.Texas for example leads the U.S. in wind power capacity. And while it may be late to the solar party, it now boasts the 16 MW Blue Wing Solar Energy Generation Facility in San Antonio, while utility CPS Energy has launched a 400 MW distributed generation program to showcase solar PV.On the morning of the show's start, too, 15 Habitat for Humanity homes in Dallas were installed with PV and solar water heating systems, courtesy of SolarCity, Solar US, Trina Solar, Bosch Solar, Schletter Mounting, SES 21 and SolarTek.