California Solar Power in Full Effect Ya'll

Used with creative commons attribution license from clownfish

Way to go California! It seems San Jose has reached first place with reidential solar power systems and commercial installations, along with several other California city’s close at it’s heel. California solar power is on the rise and hopefully will not be slowing in the future.

Several years ago California adopted a state plan called the California Solar Initiative. The program encourages homeowners, business’s, non-profits, and local government to install solar panels on roofs and surrounding areas. The goal of the initiative is to have 1,750 new megawatts of solar energy installed in the state by 2016.  So far there has been 726 megawatts of solar energy installed or are in pipeline taking care of 42% of the initiative.

According to new data, since Jan. 1, 2007, to July 7, 2010, San Jose installed 14.9 megawatts of solar power on residential and commercial roofs, followed by San Diego with 11.3 MW and Fresno with 9.2 MW, according to an annual report released by the California Public Utilities Commission last week.

This came as no surprise to San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, who was quoted as saying in the Mercury News “I’m not surprised that we’re high up the list,” Reed said Wednesday. “We’ve got some major solar installations in the city — including at eBay, Cypress Semiconductor and the San Jose Unified and East Side Union High School districts.”

San Jose is blessed by an average of 300 sunny days a year and is a perfect candidate for Mayor Chuck Reeds vision of a “green city.” The mayor’s platform has been has leaned heavy on green initiatives and renewable energies. The Mayor has also had solar panels installed on his own home.

San Jose is in the number one slot for now but as far as solar energy projects in the pipeline San Diego is first with an astounding 25.1 megawatt pending installation, followed by San Jose with 17.9 and Lancaster with 16 MW.

Advantages and disadvantages solar power

The advantages are that solar power is clean and renewable. So what are the disadvantages of solar power? Well for now solar power is still at a premium. The goal of the California Solar Initiative is to help reach “grid parity” which is the point where solar energy is able to compete with less costly energy production methods like coal and natural gas. The more solar power systems America installs the less solar power cost is involved.

What do you think of California Solar Power and the states initiative?

California solar initiative top 10 cities
1. San Jose “” 14.9 megawatts
2. San Diego “” 11.3 MW
3. Fresno “” 9.2 MW
4. Bakersfield “” 6.3 MW
5. Santa Rosa “” 4.9 MW
6. San Francisco “” 4.4 MW
7. Chico “” 4.4 MW
8. Richmond “” 4.3 MW
9. Visalia “” 4.1 MW
10. Livermore “” 4.1 MW

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