Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
from 2002 through 2006 for the installation of new, primarily residential,
renewable energy generating systems. In particular, for systems less than 30
kilowatts, the program offered $2.60 per watt for the installation of solar-cell
systems and $3.00 per watt for the installation of solar-thermal systems. The
Emerging Renewables Program also allocated $10 million toward a performance-
based incentive option for photovoltaic installations, giving electricity generators
$0.50 per kilowatt-hour over a 3-year period. In 2001, the California Public
Utilities Commission initiated the Self-Generation Incentive Program, which
offers rebates through 2007 for nonresidential distributed renewable generation
for 30 kilowatt or larger systems. Since its inception, the rebate program has spent
about $50 million per year, achieving 50 megawatts of installed solar capacity,
with another 62 additional megawatts in progress. In 2006, the Public Utilities
Commission introduced the California Solar Initiative, which will provide $2.9
billion in solar energy incentives over 11 years and support the governor's Million
Solar Roofs Plan to install 3,000 megawatts of new solar energy capacity by 2017.
By integrating California's existing Emerging Renewables Program and rebate
solar programs, the initiative will continue to encourage new solar installations
through rebate incentives for new photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, and
pay-for-performance incentives that reward high-performing solar systems
(greater than 100 kilowatts). To help sustain the solar industry, rebates for new
solar systems will begin at $2.50 per watt, but will decline by about 10 percent
annually over the next 10 years. In addition, the initiative sets aside 10 percent of
program funding for low-income and affordable housing projects.
