ABOUT CALIFORNIA’S PUSH FOR SUN

2012 California Solar Initiative Annual Program Assessment to the Legislature

July 2, 2012 (California Public Utilities Commission)

“…In 2011, California reached a major milestone by becoming the first state in the nation to install more than 1 gigawatt (1,000 megawatts) of customer-generated solar energy; a record 311 megawatts (MW) were installed in the investor-owned utility territories in 2011 alone…Residential solar system costs have decreased by 28 percent since 2007.

“CSI projects in low income markets (areas with median incomes of less than $50,000) have increased by 364 percent since 2007…Approximately 1,500 low income homeowners, with help from the Single-Family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) program, have installed solar panels…something that has a big impact in today’s sensitive housing market…The SASH program surpassed its goals, installing more than 1,000 projects for low income families…”

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“The Multi-family Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) program completed 181 projects as of April 30, 2012, with a capacity of 9.1 MW…Virtual Net Metering has allowed thousands of low income tenants to receive the direct benefits of solar as reductions in their monthly electric bills…CSI projects in middle income markets [median incomes $50,000 to $100,000] have increased by 445 percent since 2007, and comprise the majority of applications received in 2011…In just over two years of operation, the CSI-Thermal Program, which provides rebates for solar water heating systems, has received 704 applications for $4.87 million in incentives.

“In January 2007, California began an unprecedented $3.3 billion effort to install 3,000 MW of new solar over the next decade and transform the market for solar energy by reducing the cost of solar generating equipment. The CPUC portion of the solar effort is known as the CSI Program. CSI, the country’s largest solar program, has a $2.4 billion budget and a goal to install 1,940 MW of solar capacity by the end of 2016.”

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