DSIRE is a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and federal incentives and policies that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. Established in 1995 and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, DSIRE is an ongoing project of the N.C. Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

State by State Federal Incentives

Incentive News:

California FIT & Net Metering Bills Signed

California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week signed two solar bills designed to give added incentive to businesses and homeowners to invest in a solar system and help the state achieve its aggressive renewable energy goals.

AB 920 and SB 32 were both signed on the last possible day the Governor could act on bills passed on the final days of the 2009 legislative session.

The first bill, AB 920, was authored by Assembly member Jared Huffman (D-Marin) and requires utility companies to write a check to their customers for surplus solar electricity generated on an annual basis. Previously, under the state’s net metering law, utility companies were allowed to receive surplus solar electricity from their customers for free.

The bill also requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to set a rate at which utility companies shall compensate solar customers whenever a solar system generates more electricity than a home or business uses in a given year.

The second bill, SB 32, was authored by Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino) and establishes a new feed-in-tariff program for the state. A feed-in-tariff policy requires utility companies to purchase solar electricity at a set rate over a twenty-year period.

AB 920 and SB 32 were both signed on the last possible day the Governor could act on bills passed on the final days of the 2009 legislative session.

Under the new law, the California Public Utilities Commission will set rates for payments by utilities to customers for solar electricity that is fed back into the grid.  Estimates are that the rate will be about 1 1/2 times market price.

In January 2007, the State of California launched Go Solar California, which included two new solar incentive programs, with slightly modified program requirements compared to the older programs. The Energy Commission provides incentives to energy efficient new home construction under the New Solar Homes Partnership. All other facilities in investor-owned utility territories receive rebates from the CPUC-administered program, the California Solar Initiative.

Budget for the California Solar Initiative

The California Solar Initiative has a budget of $2,167 million (2007-2016) as detailed in this table:

The program components of the CPUC's California Solar Initiative have separate budget and administration plans. All budgets are for 10 years.

The Low-Income Single Family Program will be managed by Grid Alternatives and receives a budget of $108 million.

The The Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) Program is managed by PG&E, SCE and CCSE (in SDG&E territory) and receives a budget of $108 million.

The Research, Development, Deployment, and Demonstration (RD&D) Program will have a single statewide Program Manager and a budget of $50 million.

The Solar Hot Water Heating Pilot Program is administered by the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) and has a budget of $2.6 million for 1.5 allocated for incentives.

The California Solar Initiative Offers:

The California Solar Initiative offers financial incentives for solar installations based on the expected performance of a given solar installation. The expected performance is derived from the size of the solar array, and also takes into consideration the angle and location of the system installation. For larger systems, the incentive is based on the actual performance of the system over the first five years.

The incentive level available to a given project is determined by currently available incentive in each utility territory for each customer class. The CSI was designed so that the incentive level decreases over ten steps, after which it goes to $0, as the total demand for solar energy systems grows.

The CPUC divided the overall goal of 1,750 megawatts by the ten declining steps. Each step has megawatts allocated to each Program Administrator and customer class, residential and non-residential (a combination of commercial and government/non-profit). Once the total number of megawatts for each step is reached within a particular customer class, the Program Administrator moves to the next step and offers a lower incentive level for that class. Therefore, high commercial demand in SCE's territory will not lower the incentive level offered to PG&E's residential customers, and so on. Figure 1 offers a visual explanation of the increasing megawatt installations and decreasing incentive levels over the life of the program. The orange box in each "Incentive Step Level" represents the available megawatts at that incentive value. The yellow box represents the cumulative installed megawatts as the program proceeds through the steps.

Figure 1

The California Solar Initiative pays solar consumers their incentive either all-at-once for smaller systems, or over the course of five years, for larger systems. The program's two incentive payment types are:

• Expected Performance-Based Buy-Down, or EPBB: 
  In 2008-9, systems smaller than 50kW in capacity can receive a one-time, up-front incentive based on expected performance, and calculated by equipment ratings and installation factors (geographic location, tilt and shading). EPBB payments are provided on a $ per watt basis. EPBB is available for systems under 30 KW after 2010. Systems eligible for EPBB can choose to opt-in to the PBI system described below.
• Performance Based Incentive, or PBI: 
  As of January 1, 2008, all systems over 50 kW must take the PBI, and by 2010 all system over 30 kW must be on PBI. Any sized system can elect to take PBI. The PBI pays out an incentive, based on actual kWh production, over a period of five years. PBI payments are provided on a $ per kilowatt-hour basis.

"Go Solar California"  a joint effort of the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission!

Other Programs targeting energy efficiency:

Click on to find out more!

Online Integrated Active Response
Typing your request in "Details" text box you will get a list of subjects you may be interested into!         

The characters you copied from the image are incorrect. Please try again.