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 wanted but solar companies warned would cripple the booming industry and hinder the state’s move to clean energy. The public utilities commission estimates the average customer with only solar panels would save $100 a month and that people with rooftop solar panels and storage systems would save $136. The utility-backed coalition said it “fails to make the meaningful reform necessary” to ensure costs are fairly spread, while the California Solar & Storage Association said the proposal would “really hurt” the industry by making home solar panels less affordable. While Del Chiaro supports battery storage, she said she’s skeptical that lowering bill credits for solar customers will incentivize enough people to add batteries.

Energy Proposal Storage Solar Utilities Electric Solar Panels Systems Customers Fossil Fuels Rooftop Panels Solar Customers Bill Credits Storage Systems California Seeks  electric  storage  pair  rooftop  panels  proposal  energy  customers  systems  california  seeks  utilities  solar

History of this topic

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 …

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, …

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 …

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: 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.” …

Pandemic is ray of light for solar industry
4 years, 1 month ago

Pandemic is ray of light for solar industry

Live Mint  

Between Covid-19 and natural disasters, Mother Nature threw Americans a curveball in 2020. Residential solar installations were down 23% sequentially in the second quarter, largely due to shelter-in-place orders that imposed restrictions on selling and installing systems, according to a quarterly report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie. The sticker shock seems to have boosted web traffic …

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 …

Discover Related