In a promotional coup for clean energy companies, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger began his trade mission in China Tuesday by touting the need for more solar power, fuel-cell vehicles, and energy efficiency.

The governor specifically praised a solar chip from SunPower, a solar company in Sunnyvale, California. “This is the future, ladies and gentleman,” he said.

The chip, designed in California and manufactured in China, is “an amazing China-California success story” that represents the future, Mr. Schwarzenegger said.

SunPower claims its solar cells are between 20 percent and 21.5 percent efficient, meaning it converts about a fifth of the captured sun’s energy to power. Mr. Schwarzenegger said that makes them 50 percent more efficient than the average cell.

Like most of its competitors, SunPower uses metal contacts to collect and conduct energy from the sun. The difference is that SunPower puts those metal contacts on the back of its cells, away from the sunlight, to avoid reflecting sunlight away.

Timely Boost

Mr. Schwarzenegger’s plug could give SunPower a timely boost. SunPower filed for the IPO in August and is expected to go public on Friday (see IPO Watch).

On Tuesday, SunPower raised its price expectation for the upcoming IPO by $4 to a range of between $16 and $18 per share from the previously expected range of $12 to $14 per share. SunPower, currently a Cypress Semiconductor subsidiary, plans to sell 7.7 million shares.

Underwriters are Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers, SG Cowen, and First Albany Capital.

A California solar bill that would have been the largest solar initiative in the nation failed in September, but solar energy is growing rapidly in the GoldenState (see California’s Solar Bill Fails).

A number of businesses have looked to sun power to defray energy costs. FedEx, Teixeira Farms, and Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics have also completed solar projects this year in California (see FedEx’s Oakland Hub Goes Solar).

San Francisco on Tuesday unveiled a 225-kilowatt solar power system that is powering a water treatment plant in the city.

Research firm Clean Edge said the solar photovoltaic (PV) market hit $7.2 billion worldwide in 2004, and is expected to swell to $39.2 billion by 2014. And solar power firms have received interest from venture capital firms (see Energy Innovations Gets Cash).

China Warming to Efficiency

Mr. Schwarzenegger is not the first to try to broker partnerships between China and California.

In September, officials from California’s Public Utilities Commission, the U.S. Energy Commission, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company signed an agreement with the Jiangsuprovince of China to share expertise and training with Chinese government officials and utilities.

Aside from solar power, energy efficiency and hydrogen-powered cars have long been mantras for the movie star governor.

With high energy prices around the world, energy-efficiency technologies have been taking off. And venture capital investment in energy efficiency grew to $66 million in North America and Europe in 2004, up from $18 million in 2002, according to the Cleantech Venture Network. Venture capital firms have been looking at bringing green technologies to the world’s most populous nation (see Cash for China’s Environment).

Funding for energy-efficiency technologies has contributed to the boom. In March, the United States—which has long lagged behind Europe and Japan—set aside $1.3 billion for energy conservation, including rebates for hybrid cars and energy-efficient home appliances.

In addition, several states have their own programs, the biggest of which was approved for California in September. That program designates $2 billion over three years, bringing total U.S. state programs to about $3 billion (see Energy Efficiency Gets a Boost).

Green Appliances

This year, China also got involved. In March, China joined 37 other countries in labeling energy-efficient appliances. China has been looking into developing alternatives to fossil fuels (see Biodiesel in China and China Planning More Nukes).

But while the market for energy efficiency is here now, fuel-cell cars could take years—and millions more in R&D funding—to arrive.

Fuel cells produce power by mixing fuel with air and water between a reactive film membrane in an electrochemical reaction. They are seen as a potentially clean replacement for the internal combustion engine, with hydrogen replacing gasoline and diesel.

Fuel-cell vehicles emit no pollutants, releasing only water as a byproduct (see Fuel Cell Cars Travel Farther).

But the clean technology is not yet ready for commercialization, and manufacturers have different estimates on when fuel-cell vehicles can be commercialized. General Motors, for instance, has set a goal of launching them by 2010, while Volkswagen said it will take at least 20 years before they are commercially viable.