Solar Becomes Practical in California

The SF Chronicle has an article on the growing popularity of solar panels in residential homes:

The sun's shining a little more brightly here in California since the state Public Utilities Commission approved a new California Solar Initiative earlier this month.

The goal of the initiative is to stimulate the installation of 3,000 megawatts of solar power generation capacity on about a million California rooftops (there are currently about 130 megawatts installed).

It does this by setting up a decade-long program of homeowner rebates for installing and using solar electric panels. Incentives totaling $3.2 billion will be available, at a cost of about 50 cents per month to each residential electricity customer in California. The program officially starts in January 2007, when an existing short-term measure runs out. (This stop-gap measure's terms are similar to those of the California Solar Initiative, so it's not too early to apply for rebates.)

Because it is structured to wean the solar sector off subsidies, rebates are highest in the early years of the plan -- in other words, now. So like 73 percent of Californians who think solar power is a good idea yet haven't been moved to install panels, I think it's a good time to look into the latest developments to see if solar makes sense for me.

A program that reduces pollution and greenhouse gases, contributes to a sustainable state economy and literally brings power to the people seems tailor-made for Bay Area homeowners. Mike Hall, chief marketing officer at Borrego Solar agrees. "Our customers are a pretty good demographic match for the Bay Area -- they're homeowners and professionals. They're upper middle class and they're probably living in a 1,500 to 2,000 square-foot home and looking at $100 to $150 electric bills."


The rest of the US tends to follow California, and from this article things are about to get really sunny in the Golden State.