California Solar Initiative: Increasing the uptake of solar technologies in the US

✍ Scribed by Don C. Smith

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 98 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1471-0846
• DOI: 10.1016/s1471-0846(06)70549-2

✦ Synopsis

erhaps the most important date thus far in the history of solar energy development in the United States is 12 January 2006, the day that the state of California officially committed to a visionary new solar program -the California Solar Energy Initiative (CSI) -that seems destined to drive the U.S. solar industry market forward. Put simply, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is seeking to "mainstream" efficient, affordable photovoltaic and other solar technologies. Under the program, the CPUC -which received 50,000 letters in support of the program in the three months prior to its adoption -will oversee a $2.5 billion rebate program for commercial and existing residential consumers who invest in rooftop-mounted solar systems, funded through revenues and collected from gas and electric utility distribution rates. Meantime, the California Energy Commission (CEC) will manage $350 million targeted for new residential building construction, utilizing funds already allocated by the CEC to foster renewable projects between 2007 and 2011.