Politics may make future of solar energy "small"

* Opposition to big projects could spur small rooftop solar

* California mulling focus on profusion of small projects

* Price, other issues remain to be worked out for rooftop

By Peter Henderson

SAN FRANCISCO, July 9 (Reuters) - The future of solar energy may be small -- small scale, that is.

The climate change and energy policy bill winding its way through the U.S. Congress shows a new federal eagerness to build a renewable energy future, but what specifically to build where is still up for debate.

Massive solar arrays of mirrors and photovoltaic panels harnessing desert sun on otherwise-worthless land are the cliches of clean energy, but environmentalists and homeowners suing to preserve species and backyard views may be the reality.

Such opposition to big solar "plants" in the desert and power lines that would link them to cities could tip the scales toward a profusion of smaller rooftop solar projects as politics upsets conventional wisdom about how the United States could respond to global warming.

That could be a boon for solar panel makers like First Solar Inc (FSLR.O), the first installer of a big rooftop project in southern California.