Sep. 14--SANTA CLARA -- Solar power has a reputation for being kind to the environment but tough on consumers' pocketbooks.

And that's an issue that solar advocates need to address head- on, according to Mike Keesee, a project manager for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. "People don't care about energy," he said. "They care about bills."

Keesee spoke to about 150 installers, equipment makers and others who gathered in a windowless ballroom here Tuesday for a forum sponsored by the Martinez-based Rahus Institute, a nonprofit solar power advocate.

The forum sponsors were "trying to build a foundation so that the market can continue to grow," said Tor Allen of Rahus.

Politicians have eagerly embraced solar and other environmentally friendly energy sources. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a supporter of energy deregulation, and Proposition 80, a measure to expand regulators role in the industry, both call for a seven-year move-up to the state's official 2017 target for getting 20 percent of its power from renewable sources.

But cash-strapped governments have been slow to come up with the money that advocates say is needed to subsidize the upfront costs of installing the equipment to deliver that energy.

For instance, last week the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, a law that supporters said would have provided $2.5 billion in solar energy subsidies, died in the California Legislature. Backers say that the measure was the victim of a standoff between the Schwarzenegger administration and unions that sought to include wage assurances to workers on solar projects.

That legislation has little prospect of being revived after going down to defeat for the second year in a row, said David Hochschild of VoteSolar, a San Francisco-based advocacy group.

Still, Hochschild saw reasons for hope. Sympathetic state regulators could use money collected from electricity customers to provide other sources of funding for new investments in solar power, he said.

And solar got another boost when President Bush signed into law an energy bill that includes a federal tax credit for solar installations that occur between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2007, he said.

The solar industry boomed when the 2000-01 energy crisis jacked up California power costs and weakened faith in the reliability of a power grid fueled by natural gas, hydroelectric dams, coal and nuclear energy. Recent developments, including hefty rate hikes proposed by PG&E and two blackouts in the Los Angeles area, could heighten interest in alternative energy supplies.

Meanwhile, Northern California remains a hotbed for the solar industry. More than half of the solar panels installed in the United States last year were in PG&E's service territory, Hochschild said. Yet solar accounts for only about three out of every 1,000 megawatts consumed by California energy users, according to Lisa Paulo of the state Public Utilities Commission.

But that underestimates the relief that solar can provide to utilities, according to Keesee. Because the sun shines during the afternoon hours when power use normally peaks, solar-powered systems can lessen the need for investment in new power plants that would otherwise be needed to prevent blackouts, he said.

And solar feels good, backers say. Noting that owners of houses with solar panels can sometimes sell power back into the statewide grid, Allen noted that "it's just kind of cool to see your meter spinning backward."