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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.

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