California’s Solar Cities Leading the Way to a Clean Energy Future California’s Solar Cities Leading the Way to a Clean Energy Future Bernadette Del Chiaro Environment California Research & Policy Center Summer 2009 Acknowledgments The author wishes to thank Tony Dutzik of the Frontier Group for his editorial assistance. The author would also like to thank Sue Kateley with the California Solar Energy Industry Association, Molly Sterkle of the California Public Utilities Commission, Sandy Miller and Tony Goncalves of the California Energy Commission, Obadiah Bartholomy of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Andrew McAllister of the California Center for Sustainable Energy, for providing policy recommendations and reviewing this report. Last but not least, the author would like to thank Lisa Shell of Pacific Gas & Electric and Ken Parks of San Diego Gas & Electric for city- specific data assistance. The author alone bears responsibility for any factual errors. The recommendations are those of Environment California Research & Policy Center. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided review. The generous financial support of the Richard and Rhonda Goldman Fund, the Educational Foun- dation of America, the Energy Foundation, and the Arntz Family Foundation made this report possible. © 2009 Environment California Research & Policy Center. Environment California Research & Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) organization. We are dedicated to protecting California’s air, water and open spaces. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public and decision makers, and help Californians make their voices heard in local, state and national debates over the quality of our environment and our lives. For copies of this report, see our Web site at www.environmentcalifornia.org, or send $20 per copy to: Environment California Research & Policy Center 3435 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 385 Los Angeles, CA 90010 For more information about Environment California Research & Policy Center, please visit our Web site at www.environmentcalifornia.org, call our main office at (213) 251-3688, or e-mail us at [email protected]. Cover photos: Solar Panel, Daniel Shoenen Fotografie; (insets top to bottom) Oberlin College Solar Panels, Oberlin College; Zero Energy Homes, Clarum Homes; Solar Panel Installation, National Renewable Energy Lab; Livermore Cinema, Solyndra Inc. Layout and design: Harriet Eckstein Graphic Design Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 California’s Top Solar Cities 8 Solar Power Benefits California Cities and Counties 14 Building Toward A Million Solar Roofs 17 Policy Recommendations 20 About the Data 24 Appendix A: Ranking of Cities by Number of Solar Roofs 28 Appendix B: Ranking of Cities by Solar Capacity 32 Appendix C: Alphabetical Listing of Cities 36 Notes 40 Executive Summary California’s Solar Roofs market, meaning the cost of investing in a solar system is on par with the cost of purchasing retail electricity. olar power is a no-brainer energy The vast majority of California’s so- resource for California. Cleaner than lar electric systems are on single family fossil fuels, safer than nuclear power, homes, typically as a retrofit project to Sand one of the most reliable sources of an existing home. However, the number electricity, solar power is a critical part of of California businesses, farms, schools, California’s clean energy future. and government buildings hosting solar At the beginning of 2009, California was photovoltaic systems is on the rise, as is home to nearly 50,000 solar roofs, totaling the number of new housing developments more than 500 megawatts of solar power incorporating solar power into the home capacity. California has seen tremendous during construction. growth in the amount of solar power in- This report combines data from all the stalled since 1999 when just 500 rooftops state’s solar photovoltaic rebate programs hosted a solar system, as illustrated in to determine which cities have the greatest Figure ES-1. amount of solar power. Data comes from If California’s solar market experiences a the Public Utilities Commission’s Cali- similar rate of growth over the coming ten fornia Solar Initiative and Self Generation years, approximately 45-50% of compound Incentive Program, the California Energy annual growth, the state will be on track to Commission’s New Solar Homes Partner- meet its million solar roofs goal by the start ship and Emerging Renewables Program, of 2017, as shown in Figure ES-2. Assum- and data from the state’s municipal utilities ing the industry is able to achieve greater such as Sacramento Municipal Utility Dis- economies of scale, due to increased experi- trict and Los Angeles Department of Water ence from a growing market, the price of and Power. (See “About the Data” section solar power should drop by half, creating at end of this report for more details on the “grid parity” for the solar photovoltaic numbers analyzed for this report.) Executive Summary Figure ES-1. Snap-shot of Statewide Solar Roof Installations, 1999 vs. 2009 50,000 49,335 40,000 30,000 20,000 Number ofSolar NumberRoofs 10,000 521 0 1999 2009 California has seen tremendous growth in the number of solar roofs installed statewide over the past ten years, from just over 500 solar roofs in 1999 to nearly 50,000 today. SOURCE: Data compiled from California Energy Commission, California Public Utilities Commission and the state’s municipal utilities. California’s Top Ten Los Angeles with 1,388 solar roofs totaling 13,000 kilowatts, San Francisco with 1,350 Solar Cities solar roofs totaling 7,050 kilowatts, and, This report analyzes which cities host the surprisingly not far behind, are the cities largest amount of solar power, measured of Fresno, Bakersfield and Clovis with more in terms of numbers of solar installations than 700 solar roofs each. (e.g. roofs) and amount of solar power (e.g. When population is taken into account, installed capacity), as well as those cities the top ten list shifts to smaller cities such that host the highest concentration of solar as Trinidad along the north coast, remote power based on population. and rustic Nevada City, and one of the California’s solar power market is broad, state’s fastest growing cities, Lincoln. The as supported by the findings of this report. data for Nevada City, for example, shows A healthy and growing solar power market that nearly one in every five households is taking hold in the state’s large coastal hosts a solar system. In the City of In- cities, tiny mountain hamlets, and grow- dustry, for every resident more than one ing communities of the Central Valley. kilowatt of solar power is installed. This The cities with the greatest amount of impressive statistic is due to several large solar power today include San Diego with solar installations in a city that has a very 2,262 solar roofs totaling 19,427 kilowatts, small number of residents. 2 California’s Solar Cities Figure ES-2. Getting to A Million Solar Roofs and Achieving Economies of Scale 3,500 $9.00 MW Installed $8.00 3,000 Cost of System After Rebate Cost of System Before $7.00 2,500 Rebate $6.00 2,000 $5.00 1,500 $4.00 $/Watt MW Installed MW $3.00 1,000 $2.00 500 $1.00 0 $0.00 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 California’s solar market must continue to grow at its current rate to reach the state’s million solar roofs goal by the start of 2017. If it does, economies of scale should cut the cost of installing a solar photvoltaic system in half, creating “grid parity” where rebates are no longer needed to make solar power a cost-effective investment for the consumer. SOURCE: Environment California Research & Policy Center, Bringing Solar to Scale: California’s Opportunity to Create a Thriving, Self-Sustaining Residential Solar Market, 2005. Top 10 for Number of Solar Roofs Rank Cities Number Solar Roofs 1 San Diego 2,262 2 Los Angeles 1,388 3 San Francisco 1,350 4 San Jose 1,333 5 Fresno 1,028 6 Bakersfield 751 7 Clovis 733 8 Santa Rosa 725 9 Sacramento 692 10 Berkeley 648 Executive Summary Top 10 for Solar Capacity (kilowatts installed) Rank Cities Kilowatts-AC installed 1 San Diego 19,427 2 San Jose 15,450 3 Fresno 14,538 4 Los Angeles 13,000 5 Santa Rosa 8,954 6 Bakersfield 7,341 7 San Francisco 7,050 8 Oakland 6,972 9 Chico 6,417 10 Napa 5,947 Top 10 for Solar Roofs per Household Rank Cities Solar roofs/# households 1 Nevada City 19% 2 Sebastopol 16% 3 Trinidad 12% 4 Portola Valley 10% 5 Los Altos Hills 8% 6 Ojai 8% 7 Point Arena 7% 8 Lincoln 7% 9 Grass Valley 6% 10 Plymouth 6% Top Ten for Solar Capacity (watts-AC) per Capita Rank Cities Watts-AC installed/population 1 City of Industry 1,563 2 St. Helena 558 3 Lakeport 454 4 Sebastopol 340 5 Sonoma 336 6 Auburn 311 7 Nevada City 289 8 Oroville 286 9 Plymouth 258 10 Portola Valley 256 4 California’s Solar Cities Solar Benefits Promoting Solar at There are many benefits to the expansion Municipal Level of solar power in California. High among Government incentives in the form of re- the list is job growth. Applying Electric bates and federal tax credits are powerful Power Research Institute 2001 estimates forces driving consumers to invest in solar for the number of jobs created per mega- power. As California aims to make history watt of solar power installed to California’s by building a million solar roofs, totaling projected solar roof growth through 2017 3,000 megawatts of solar power by 2017, has California creating 20,000 person it is critical that California’s cities—small years of employment.