The solar power industry has been growing in rapid successes over the past decade, and leading this growth is the Golden State of California. California has put a lot of money and effort into increasing their solar energy usage while decreasing their use of fossil fuels, and it’s paying off. The initiative California is taking, their West Coast location, the environmental benefits, and the economic sensibility make California an ideal place for anyone to go solar!
Solar Installers
California alone contains over 2,500 solar professionals, that number includes manufacturers and installers. Some are strictly residential installers or strictly commercial installers, but many work in both sectors to cater to whoever may need. For example, YSG Solar has recently expanded to California where they will be operating as both commercial and residential installers working with both homeowners and business owners all across the state.
The Prime State
Almost six million homes are powered by solar and 16% of California’s electricity is solar energy. To put that in perspective, only 3.79% of New York’s electricity is solar energy. That major difference shows how far California has come and how much farther they have to go.
What makes California the Top place to Go Solar?
California’s solar stats exceed most other states, and why is that?
The Sun
California’s location is extremely profitable towards the solar industry specifically because it gets more sun. They have an average of 5.38 peak sun hours a day, making their solar insolation levels among the top ten in the country. This increases the amount of solar electricity produced. With more sun shining for longer periods of time, solar panels are able to create and store more clean energy replacing the electricity coming from fossil-fuel-using utility plants.
Environmental Benefit
Relying on fossil fuels to power our daily lives pollutes the air, contributes to heat waves and droughts, and threatens the health of humans and animals. By going solar, you are contributing to the replacement of fossil fuels with solar energy and leading the way to a better, cleaner future.
Economic Benefit
There are a few different types of electric bills. Some utility companies charge more depending on the time the electricity is used (Time of Use Rate). Others charge according to tier (Tiered Rate) which allocates a certain amount of electricity per tier. If the amount of the first tier is exceeded, the user is moved to the second tier and charged a lot more.
- Time of use Rate: By going solar, a homeowner can save on this type of bill by using the electricity generated by the panels at the time when electricity costs more (When people come home from work).
- Tiered Rate: The solar panels may not be able to replace all fossil fuel electricity, but they will help homeowners stay in a lower tier and keep their bill extremely low.
Overall, California has extremely high electric rates, and they are intentional. These high rates are meant to be punitive and expensive to encourage citizens to conserve. The rates have been driven up in order to make going solar more economically attractive.
Government Policy
The state government has done so much to encourage citizens to join the solar movement. They have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in incentive and rebate programs which have helped many citizens afford the process of going solar.
- California Solar Initiative (CSI) – This organization has been at the forefront of the Go Solar California Campaign. Until 2016, they provided upfront rebates to make solar more affordable. Those funds ran out besides for 10% of it, which was allocated to the SASH Program which will continue until 2021.
- Single-Family Affordable Solar Home (SASH) – This current program is designed to decrease the upfront investment needed for solar installation for low-income families.
- Solar Power Mandate – In 2020, all homes being built in California will be required to have solar power.
Aside from the state government and organizations, local towns have shown support for solar energy by conveniently speeding up the permit process to help installations go as smoothly as possible. This all-around support and benefit makes California the perfect place to go solar.
As you can see, the benefits add up. The sun, the state, and the environment all agree that California is the place to go solar. They get a lot of sun, have a helpful government and high electric bills that can be reduced. Now if only we could get the rest of the world up to speed.
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