MENLO PARK, Calif.--Solar power hasn't swept the nation but it must and will, said members of utilities, clean-tech start-ups, venture capital firms, and academia at the Big Solar conference here Wednesday.

California will literally live up to its "Golden State" nickname and shine as a model for the rest of the country thanks to progressive lawmakers, Silicon Valley dealmakers, and innovators at state and university labs, according to the event's many optimists.

"The time has come in the United States for large-scale solar," said Ed Smeloff, senior manager of utility project sales at SunPower, a maker of solar systems including those at the nation's largest plant at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. "The wind is to our backs on this."

Among the bright points noted by Smeloff and others, each presidential candidate supports clean energy, of which solar is the best understood.

U.S. photovoltaics account for just 8 percent of the global market totaling 2,826 megawatts, according to a Solarbuzz report.

Demand for electricity will expand one-third by 2030, according to the Energy Information Administration. Solar producers hope their energy product will fill the gap with a minimal carbon footprint.