SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday issued the following statement after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a report on the California Solar Initiative showing the program’s continued success: “This report shows the California Solar Initiative is working by making solar power more accessible and spurring private investment in solar projects around our state. I am glad Californians are taking advantage of this opportunity to save money on their electricity bills, while helping us increase the amount of clean energy in California. Successes like this program continue to show the rest of the world that you can protect the environment and pump up the economy at the same time, and I am proud to say it is happening right here in California.”
Highlights of the CPUC’s California Solar Initiative Annual Program Assessment report to the legislature include:
· The program has received a record of nearly 300 MW of new project applications since January 2010, more than any other six-month period since the program started.
· The program had over 134 MW of new projects applying in April 2010, the highest month on record for new solar applications.
· For every dollar spent on incentives by the state, there has been another $2.62 invested in solar technology in California from other sources.
· Program data shows a decline in the average cost of solar systems. The inflation adjusted cost trends show that prices have declined since January 2007 from $10.04/watt to $8.49/watt for systems under 10 kW.
· The program has received very high demand since its start in 2007. Incentives started at $2.50/watt across the state, and now they are as low as $0.65/watt.
The California Solar Initiative was first conceived in 2004 when Governor Schwarzenegger expanded state support for solar and announced the Million Solar Roofs Program. In 2006, the CPUC and the California Energy Commission collaboratively developed a framework for the program, and with the Governor’s support and the statutory authority expressed in SB 1 by Senator Kevin Murray (D-Los Angeles), the California Solar Initiative was officially launched on January 1, 2007.
This most recent report from the California Solar Initiative is available at www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/energy/Solar/.
