Skip to main content

Community Solar for California

In this episode - Community Solar for California . . .

While California is one of the leading U.S. states in solar deployment, CA. has lagged behind in providing community solar access.

As of September 1, 2022, the California State Legislature passed AB 2316, the Community Renewable Energy Act, a bill that creates a community renewable energy program, including community solar-plus-storage, to overcome access barriers for nearly half of Californians who rent or have low incomes.

What is Community Solar?

The U.S. Department of Energy defines community solar as any solar project within a geographic area in which the benefits of a solar project flow to multiple customers such as individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and other groups. In most cases, customers benefit from energy generated by solar panels at an off-site array location.

Community solar customers can either buy or lease a portion of the solar panels in the array. They typically receive an electric bill credit for electricity generated by their share of the community solar system—similar to someone with rooftop panels installed on their home.

Community solar can be an excellent option for people who are unable to install solar panels on their roof because they don't own their home, have sufficient solar resources or roof conditions to support a rooftop PV system due to shading, roof size, or other factors, and for financial reasons. You’ve probably noticed Community solar is rapidly growing across the country. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory tracks installation data on community solar. Click the link to see what States participate.

Nearly half of all Californians rent or have low incomes. The AB 2316 bill has directed the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to create a community renewable energy program that prioritizes access for renters, low-income households, and those who cannot install on-site solar and storage.

This bill requires the CPUC to evaluate, consolidate or eliminate existing community solar programs that are not achieving their goals, enable community solar projects to comply with California's building code standards, and piggyback on the recently passed IRA initiative to drive solar deployment in the state.

The US$369 billion climate provisions act includes:

  • Extend the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar panels
  • Create a 30% tax credit for storage technology in projects that pay prevailing wages
  • Increase tax credits for projects focused on low-moderate income households – a 40% ITC for projects serving 50% low-moderate income (LMI) customers and a 50% ITC for projects serving 100% LMI customers.
  • Provide US$7 billion for states to create or expand distributed solar programs serving disadvantaged communities.
  • Avoid cost transfers to non-participants and maximize the state's ability to access federal funds under the IRA.
You may be wondering what the Benefits of Community Solar are.
  • Support renewable energy, reduce emissions, and accelerate the transition from fossil fuels.
  • Create local power projects that increase regional grid resiliency.
  • You save money on energy bills each month, with no up-front investment.

 I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. I'll see you in the next episode.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

The Compass of Cuba: Mom

🎄  Preview of this week's  On the Fly  blog: A Holiday Tribute to Mom. As the holidays hustle with pixels and beeps, the world scrolls along in a smartphone-y sleep. I log off for a moment—just one little minute— To breathe in the past and to sit myself in it. My mind doesn’t wander to faraway places, Or trips full of tickets and new airport faces. Instead, it drifts backward, as memories do, to Cuba, Illinois, where the best moments grew. To a home full of warmth, in the wintry Midwest, Where my mother—dear “Marcie”—put love to the test. With a smile that could melt the most frigid of dawns, and hugs that hung on you like shivering fawns. She came from La Rochelle in France, brave and bright, Across oceans and war shadows, into new light. A town full of strangers soon felt like her own, And her courage built up the foundation of home. “Oh yes, we know Marcie!” the locals would say— “It's Doc Ball’s French lady! She brightens the day!” She cleaned, and she cooked, and sh...
2 comments
Read more

Feeling Human Again

In this episode, The Unexpected Thankfulness of Feeling Human Again I’ll be honest with you: My triumphant return from France was not the glamorous homecoming I had imagined. No graceful glide back into routine. No cinematic jet-setter moment where I lift my suitcase off the carousel and wink at life like we’re old pals. Instead? I came home and immediately launched into a two-week performance piece titled The Great American Couch Collapse. My days blurred together in a haze of soup, hot tea, tissues, and desperate negotiations with the universe for just one nostril—one!—to function properly. The living room sofa became my emotional support furniture. And any creative idea that dared tiptoe into my congested brain was gently shown the exit with a firm but courteous, “Not today, friend. Try again later.” When life hits the pause button like that—when you’re exhausted, sick, and mentally unplugged—how do you find your spark again? Somehow, today, I felt it. A tiny shift. A clearing of th...
1 comment
Read more

A Holiday Reflection–Mother's Love

In this episode,  How a Mother’s Love Built My Memories– A Holiday Reflection As this holiday season approaches and the world buzzes with shopping, planning, and busy schedules, I find myself embracing something wonderfully simple: taking a moment to pause. Not to check off a list or recharge devices, but to breathe deeply, remember fondly, and honor the person and place that have shaped my sense of home long before I had the words for it. This year, after regaining my strength from a lingering post-travel fog, my mind didn’t wander to exotic destinations or future adventures. It drifted backward—across oceans and time—to Cuba, Illinois, in the early 1960s, and to the woman whose love built the foundation of my world: Mauricette Elaine (Bontemps) Ball. My Mom . We came to Cuba after leaving La Rochelle, France, in 1959—a transition so dramatic I only appreciate its enormity now. My mother, barely in her mid-twenties, stepped off that plane and into the Midwest with a courage that s...
1 comment
Read more

Believing Is Seeing

🎄 In this episode, Believing Is Seeing . . . It's December, we bustle, we wrap, and we dash. We sort life into boxes— myths  here,  to-dos  in a stash. We whisper of Santa (adult code: “Not Real”), but hold on one minute—let’s rethink this whole deal. For the stories we cherish, the movies we stream, hold more truth in their sparkle than we grown-ups may deem. So hop in this sleigh and hold on real tight— We’re chasing down Santa by the glow of his light! Scott Calvin once landed in the North Pole’s cold air, with elves, cocoa, and snow everywhere. He squinted and frowned—“This just  cannot  be so!” (Like thinking tangled lights will detangle if we  blow .) Then Judy the Elf gave a cocoa so steaming,  and said something simple . . . yet surprisingly gleaming: Seeing’s not believing—no, that’s not the key. "Believing is seeing!"   Just trust, and  you’ll  see!” Kids don’t need a map or a satellite screen to know Santa’s workshop is her...
1 comment
Read more