California lowers incentives for rooftop solar panels
2 years ago

California lowers incentives for rooftop solar panels

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California utility regulators on Thursday approved major changes to the state’s booming rooftop solar market that they say will more evenly spread the cost of energy and help reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels in the evening. That’s led to criticism that rooftop solar customers aren’t paying their fair share into the rest of the energy grid, which many still rely on for power when the sun goes down. “Numerous independent studies and testimony from diverse parties make clear the current solar subsidy program forces low-income families, renters, seniors and anyone who doesn’t have rooftop solar to bankroll wealthier Californians’ solar systems. The average household solar and storage system costs about $26,000 when taking into account federal tax credits that cover about 30% of the cost, said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar & Storage Association But the Public Advocates Office, a consumer advocacy group with the utilities commission, supports the change, pointing to commission estimates that show the proposal will still save residential solar customers an estimated $100 on their monthly bills, or $136 a month if they also install storage systems.

Energy Power Storage Solar Commission Rooftop Solar Panels Systems Customers Fossil Fuels Panels California Lowers Lowers Incentives California Lowers Incentives  power  states  rooftop  storage  panels  commission  energy  systems  customers  california  lowers  incentives  solar

History of this topic

Letters to the Editor: ‘Solar glut’ isn’t a solar problem — it’s a transmission and battery problem
3 weeks, 3 days ago

Letters to the Editor: ‘Solar glut’ isn’t a solar problem — it’s a transmission and battery problem

LA Times  

The Westlands Solar Park near the town of Lemoore in California’s San Joaquin Valley. To the editor: Every month, California throws away enough solar and wind energy to power half a million homes — not because we don’t need it, but because our system is designed to waste it. Until we align our grid operators’ incentives with our clean energy …

Solar power glut boosts California electric bills. Other states reap the benefits
1 month ago

Solar power glut boosts California electric bills. Other states reap the benefits

LA Times  

California is making so much solar energy that large commercial operators are increasingly forced to stop production, raising questions about the state’s costly plan to shift entirely to carbon-free sources of electricity. The waste would have been even larger if California had not paid utilities in other states to take the excess solar energy, documents from the state’s grid operator …

Solar panel owners face new payment system from 2027
1 month, 1 week ago

Solar panel owners face new payment system from 2027

Dutch News  

As expected, MPs have voted in favour of ending the way in which households with solar panels are paid for the excess electricity they produce and feed back into the grid from January 2027. “We can now focus on the future and work towards encouraging people to use more of the electricity that they produce,” said Nold Jaeger, a spokesman …

Column: Newsom wants Californians to help on climate. He should help too
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Column: Newsom wants Californians to help on climate. He should help too

LA Times  

“Every day, Californians are taking small actions that collectively are helping us create a better world for our kids and grandkids,” Gov. One bill would have reversed a decision by Newsom’s appointees to the Public Utilities Commission that makes it more expensive for apartment renters, farmers, schools and strip malls to install rooftop solar panels. In his veto message for …

Curious about adding solar power to your home? Watch out for scams
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Curious about adding solar power to your home? Watch out for scams

Salon  

I'm a relatively eco-conscious person. "Home solar is one of the only power plants that will fit on your roof, generate electricity without causing pollution and use fuel that is free and abundant for everyone," said my former colleague Gene Rodrigues, who is now the assistant secretary for electricity for the U.S. Department of Energy. An indecent proposal My husband, …

Editorial: The Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022. Why are states lagging behind on energy rebates?
4 months, 1 week ago

Editorial: The Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022. Why are states lagging behind on energy rebates?

LA Times  

American households have claimed more than $8 billion in federal Inflation Reduction Act tax credits to install climate-friendly upgrades such as solar panels and heat pumps. But programs to offer upfront rebates to help bring cleaner energy technology and appliances to low- and middle-income families still aren’t up and running in California and many other states. American households claimed more …

Rooftop solar has a fraud problem. The industry is working to build back trust
4 months, 1 week ago

Rooftop solar has a fraud problem. The industry is working to build back trust

NPR  

Rooftop solar has a fraud problem. We don't want people deceived, though,” says Adam Welle, a lawyer with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office who is pursuing a case against solar financing companies. Sponsor Message Milz says Graysquare Solar didn’t even appear in court to defend itself, “Actions speak louder than words.” The finance company involved in the Minto case, Solar …

Thinking about solar? Here are some things to consider
4 months, 1 week ago

Thinking about solar? Here are some things to consider

NPR  

Here are some things to consider Solar power is booming, helping the country meet its climate goals. Minto has solar panels, but a lawsuit claims the salesman created an email address for him and forged his name on an electronic contract for a 25-year loan for the installation. BRADY: Minto's attorney, Andy Milz, says GraySquare didn't even respond to the …

Why the U.S. government is spending $7 billion on solar for low-income homes
4 months, 3 weeks ago

Why the U.S. government is spending $7 billion on solar for low-income homes

NPR  

Why the U.S. government is spending $7 billion on solar for low-income homes toggle caption Mario Tama/Getty Images PITTSBURG, Calif. — On a hot afternoon in a suburb of San Francisco, Hugo Salas stands in the middle of the street looking up at the reason why his electric bills are so low. By funding programs that provide rooftop solar panels, …

Column: If Gavin Newsom is a climate champion, why did he just crush community solar?
6 months, 3 weeks ago

Column: If Gavin Newsom is a climate champion, why did he just crush community solar?

LA Times  

After months of outcry, the California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to approve a solar energy program that critics are sure will fail spectacularly, making it impossible for many people to access an innovative global warming solution. All of which brings us back to Thursday’s vote by the Public Utilities Commission, which dealt with “community solar.” Community solar projects are …

India wants to hook its population onto clean energy by boosting rooftop solar
10 months ago

India wants to hook its population onto clean energy by boosting rooftop solar

Associated Press  

BENGALURU, India — Just a few years ago, someone who wanted to install a rooftop solar connection in India faced getting multiple approvals, finding a reliable company to install the panels and spending heavily before seeing the first surge of clean energy. “We had to get 45 signatures to set up a small rooftop solar connection in 2021,” said Shreya …

Column: Biden’s Western solar plan sounds scary. But it’s better than climate change
10 months, 3 weeks ago

Column: Biden’s Western solar plan sounds scary. But it’s better than climate change

LA Times  

An America flag flutters in the breeze at the Daggett solar farm in San Bernardino County, seen in October. Weiner also described the federal government’s maps as “grainy,” saying they offer “more of a 30,000-foot view than a ground-level view” of which public lands are suitable for solar. As an example, Donnelly pointed to the desert lands surrounding Nevada’s Ash …

Households could get solar panel subscription under new government trial
11 months ago

Households could get solar panel subscription under new government trial

The Telegraph  

Households could install solar panels on a subscription model as part of a trial backed by the Government to encourage the uptake of green technology. Among them is Sunsave, a London-based company, that will receive £2 million funding to trial a scheme offering households solar panels for a monthly payment, similar to a mobile phone, rather than an upfront sum. …

Opinion: Here is one way California can end its rooftop solar wars
11 months, 1 week ago

Opinion: Here is one way California can end its rooftop solar wars

LA Times  

California needs to accelerate rooftop solar deployment, not constrain it. Because California has long been a leader in rooftop solar policy, the commission’s decisions may be imperiling rooftop solar elsewhere: Last month, Hawaii instituted similar cuts to its incentives. Without incentives, though, it doesn’t make financial sense for most Californians to install rooftop solar, meaning we all get less of …

Letters to the Editor: Will Newsom go down as the governor who killed solar in California?
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Letters to the Editor: Will Newsom go down as the governor who killed solar in California?

LA Times  

To the editor: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has failed electricity ratepayers, the rooftop solar industry and the need for us to transition away from polluting fossil fuel energy. His appointments to the California Public Utilities Commission, who voted twice in 2023 to reduce incentives for homes and businesses that install solar power systems, prioritize profit for the investor-owned utilities, resulting …

Editorial: Solar installations are plummeting and California regulators are to blame
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Editorial: Solar installations are plummeting and California regulators are to blame

LA Times  

Solar Optimum installer Marat Poghosyan carries a solar panel on the roof of a home in Brea on June 15. California’s rooftop solar industry has declined dramatically since state regulators slashed consumer incentives, according to industry and utility data. That’s when the PUC’s changes to the net energy metering program took effect, slashing the compensation new solar customers receive for …

Column: How I learned to stop worrying and love rooftop solar
1 year ago

Column: How I learned to stop worrying and love rooftop solar

LA Times  

As global leaders celebrated a hard-fought agreement to triple the world’s renewable energy production and transition away from fossil fuels, an attorney for the state of California was in a San Francisco courtroom Wednesday, defending a decision by appointees of Gov. I don’t buy the argument made by some rooftop solar advocates that those net metering critics — and academic …

Despite subsidies rooftop solar still too expensive: study
1 year, 1 month ago

Despite subsidies rooftop solar still too expensive: study

The Hindu  

India’s low uptake of rooftop solar systems – often touted as the pathway to clean, decentralised electricity –is largely due to limited electricity consumption and existing subsidies for coal-fired electricity that makes even subsidised solar power expensive, suggests the results of a first-of-its-kind study spanning 14,000 households across 21 states. Were all rooftops in India’s estimated 25-30 crore households to …

Column: California needs to get its act together on rooftop solar
1 year, 2 months ago

Column: California needs to get its act together on rooftop solar

LA Times  

Government officials in California and the rest of the country should be doing everything they can to support clean energy. In theory, a strong community solar program could help make up for cuts to “virtual net metering” — the solar incentive program for apartment dwellers, schools and farms that’s currently on the chopping block at the utilities commission. From Edison’s …

Solar panels: Should you buy them? Rent them? Pass?
1 year, 4 months ago

Solar panels: Should you buy them? Rent them? Pass?

LA Times  

Figuring out whether rooftop solar would work for your home has always been complicated, involving factors like the size and shape of your roof and the monthly amount you pay for electricity — not just now, but for the coming 20 to 30 years. The California Public Utilities Commission, which ordered the change, said the previous “net metering” fees had …

Two weeks until California slashes rooftop solar incentives
1 year, 8 months ago

Two weeks until California slashes rooftop solar incentives

LA Times  

This story originally published in Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment. It’s been nearly a decade since California lawmakers ordered the state’s Public Utilities Commission to revamp a rooftop solar incentive program called net metering. Gavin Newsom’s appointees on the Public Utilities Commission, who said one of their goals in lowering incentive payments for standalone …

Democrats’ Climate Law Is About To Give A Big Boost To U.S. Solar Manufacturing
1 year, 11 months ago

Democrats’ Climate Law Is About To Give A Big Boost To U.S. Solar Manufacturing

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING The United States invented solar panels. Included in the roughly $370 billion earmarked for industries that will help the U.S. slash its climate-changing emissions was the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act, legislation to boost tax credits for building photovoltaic panels and parts in the United States. Dustin Chambers for The Washington Post via Getty Images Qcells’ …

California just slashed rooftop solar incentives. What happens next?
2 years ago

California just slashed rooftop solar incentives. What happens next?

LA Times  

California sharply reduced incentive payments for rooftop solar power Thursday, taking a sledgehammer to a program that helped 1.5 million homes and businesses put solar panels on their roofs and made the state a leader in fighting the climate crisis. Solar installers and clean energy activists call that argument flawed, saying the technology’s benefits — including less air pollution in …

California seeks to pair home energy storage, rooftop solar
2 years, 1 month ago

California seeks to pair home energy storage, rooftop solar

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California regulators on Thursday proposed changes to the state’s residential solar market designed to encourage more at-home battery systems that can help the electrical grid rely less on fossil fuels in the evenings, especially during heat waves. Last December, the commission proposed new charges for solar customers and lessened the subsidies for installing rooftop panels, which utilities …

California pushes a new plan to cut rooftop solar incentives
2 years, 1 month ago

California pushes a new plan to cut rooftop solar incentives

LA Times  

California is poised to reduce payments to homes and businesses that go solar for clean electricity they supply to the power grid — a landmark shift in how the state promotes a crucial technology for fighting climate change. In a written statement, the Affordable Clean Energy for All campaign — which is funded by the three monopoly utilities — said …

Calls for better consumer protections intensify as complaints over shoddy solar panels soar
2 years, 2 months ago

Calls for better consumer protections intensify as complaints over shoddy solar panels soar

ABC  

The body representing household and small business power users is pushing for greater safeguards to protect consumers from faulty solar panels and misleading advice, amid a spike in complaints over dodgy installations. Key points: An energy consumers lobby has launched a campaign to better protect customers The move comes following a "flood" of complaints over solar panels Regulators have limited …

Joe Manchin Finally Signed Off on a Climate Bill. Does Everyone Get Free Solar Panels Now?
2 years, 4 months ago

Joe Manchin Finally Signed Off on a Climate Bill. Does Everyone Get Free Solar Panels Now?

Slate  

After a year of thwarted plans, Senate Democrats might actually use their majority to pass a gigantic climate bill that could reduce emissions by a major amount? Build Back Better is dead; long live the Inflation Reduction Act, a big social and climate spending bill that it seems everyone from the Squad to Larry Summers can get behind. On top …

California prepares for energy shortfalls in hot, dry summer
2 years, 7 months ago

California prepares for energy shortfalls in hot, dry summer

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California likely will have an energy shortfall equivalent to what it takes to power about 1.3 million homes when use is at its peak during the hot and dry summer months, state officials said Friday. They represented the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission, and the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s energy …

Rooftop solar energy to power nation's green development
2 years, 8 months ago

Rooftop solar energy to power nation's green development

China Daily  

Photovoltaic panels are installed on rooftops at an NEV service station in Tianjin in August. Rooftop installations in China increased to 27.3 gigawatts in 2021 from 19.4 GW in 2017, and the growth should keep rising for the rooftop solar market, a Rystad Energy analysis piece said. The increased adoption of rooftop installations in China has also driven the world's …

Should California slash solar incentives? We took a survey
2 years, 11 months ago

Should California slash solar incentives? We took a survey

LA Times  

Yajaira Villanueva of Temecula, an employee of the solar company Freedom Forever, attends the “Save Our Solar Jobs” rally at Grand Park in Los Angeles on Jan. 13. When California gets it wrong, others will get it wrong, too.” Nicole H.: “I invested $40,000 to do the responsible thing, and I’m providing excess solar energy to my neighbors! If they …

California's plan to cut rooftop solar incentives, explained
3 years ago

California's plan to cut rooftop solar incentives, explained

LA Times  

This is the Dec. 16, 2021, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. Instead, it fully endorses the “cost shift” argument made by utility companies and others — that net metering leads to higher electricity rates for Californians who can’t afford solar. Utility industry In a written statement, …

California proposes reducing incentives for rooftop solar
3 years ago

California proposes reducing incentives for rooftop solar

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California regulators proposed major changes to the state’s booming residential solar industry Monday, including reducing the discounts homeowners with rooftop solar and storage systems get on their electric bills when they sell extra energy back to the power companies. The state’s three major utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California …

California proposes big changes to rooftop solar incentives
3 years ago

California proposes big changes to rooftop solar incentives

LA Times  

California officials want to slash payments for rooftop solar power, saying the changes would help the state achieve 100% clean energy while keeping the lights on, preventing electricity rates from rising and encouraging people to install batteries. Walker Wright, vice president of public policy at San Francisco-based Sunrun, the nation’s largest rooftop solar installer, was similarly displeased, saying in a …

Editorial: Don’t slash incentives for California rooftop solar
3 years ago

Editorial: Don’t slash incentives for California rooftop solar

LA Times  

A crew with the nonprofit GRID Alternatives installs rooftop solar panels at a home in Watts in June. Sweeping changes being sought by utility companies and their allies would make going solar more expensive for regular people and undermine the nation’s largest, most robust rooftop market. Reaching California’s clean-energy goals and confronting climate change will require both large-scale solar farms …

California labor unions, solar firms clash on clean energy
3 years, 1 month ago

California labor unions, solar firms clash on clean energy

LA Times  

A surfer heads for the water as solar advocates finish writing a 200-foot message in the sand in Huntington Beach, near the site of an October oil spill. The idea of barring most rooftop solar companies from installing batteries — unless they also obtain an electrical contractor’s license, which requires employees performing electrical work to be certified electricians — was …

The future of rooftop solar is up for grabs in California
3 years, 1 month ago

The future of rooftop solar is up for grabs in California

LA Times  

Nick Criscito, left, and Avril Engelhart join dozens of others at a Nov. 1 protest organized by the Solar Rights Alliance outside a Southern California Edison office in Long Beach. Gavin Newsom’s appointees on the California Public Utilities Commission to reduce the electric bill credits homes receive when they sign up for net metering, the incentive program that has fueled …

Should California make solar more expensive? Inside the climate justice battle
3 years, 1 month ago

Should California make solar more expensive? Inside the climate justice battle

LA Times  

Parakeets and lovebirds were chirping in Marta Patricia Martinez’s frontyard as a crew of solar installers climbed onto her roof. “We will fall horribly short of our clean energy goals if we kill the rooftop solar market,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar & Storage Assn. Building lots of rooftop solar “makes it easier and cheaper.” …

Solar on farmland could help California keep the lights on
3 years, 5 months ago

Solar on farmland could help California keep the lights on

LA Times  

This is the July 8, 2021, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. At least 300 megawatts of gas-fired power won’t be available either due to “unforeseen circumstances.” And a few hundred megawatts of new energy resources that were expected to be ready to go by Aug. 1 …

Fears proposal to charge households with solar panels to export electricity will kill demand for solar energy
3 years, 7 months ago

Fears proposal to charge households with solar panels to export electricity will kill demand for solar energy

ABC  

An energy expert has hit out at a new proposal to charge solar panel users for exporting their excess electricity, labelling it a "sun tax" and arguing it will cost solar households more than is being estimated by the independent statutory body pushing the changes. Key points: For years, solar panel owners have been able to sell their surplus energy …

Solar splurge hits record highs in WA as COVID-19, downturn fails to quell demand
3 years, 7 months ago

Solar splurge hits record highs in WA as COVID-19, downturn fails to quell demand

ABC  

WA households installed a record amount of solar power in 2020, further fuelling the rise of green energy in the country's sunniest state despite the economic downturn. Key points: Rooftop solar uptake reached a record amount in WA in 2020 The amount installed generated equivalent power to the state's biggest coal plant Grid-drawn energy demand reached a record low The …

How rooftop solar could save Americans $473 billion
3 years, 11 months ago

How rooftop solar could save Americans $473 billion

LA Times  

This is the Jan. 7, 2021, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. That calculation is based on Clack’s exhaustively detailed model of the U.S. electric grid, which he says includes 10,000 times more data points than traditional models and allows for a better accounting of rooftop solar’s …

California is scrambling to avoid blackouts. Your refrigerator could help
3 years, 11 months ago

California is scrambling to avoid blackouts. Your refrigerator could help

LA Times  

Sometime next summer, there’s a decent chance a heat wave will bake the American West, and California’s power grid will again be stretched to its limits. Subscribe Officials at the commission and the California Independent System Operator say they’re optimistic about so-called virtual power plants that string together hundreds or thousands of batteries, as well as “flexible demand” programs that …

Daytime solar subsidies to be slashed as WA moves to head off grid overload
4 years, 3 months ago

Daytime solar subsidies to be slashed as WA moves to head off grid overload

ABC  

Subsidies to West Australian households that pump solar power to the grid during the middle of the day are set to be slashed in a bid to avoid the risk of renewable energy overloading the state's electricity system. Energy analyst Matthew Warren, a former head of industry body the Electricity Supply Association of Australia, likened the number of solar panels …

How to get solar if you're renting
4 years, 4 months ago

How to get solar if you're renting

ABC  

Installing solar panels on your roof may seem like a pipedream if you are among the one third of Australians who rent their home. Key points: Solar power has traditionally been seen as something for house owners There are government rebate schemes for rental properties Some apartment complexes are now including solar panels in the initial build And it may …

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