Solar power in California

At the end of 2023, California had a total of 46,874 MW of solar capacity installed, enough to power 13.9 million homes in the state.

Over the last 20 years, California has been home to a number of the world's largest solar facilities, many of which are located in the Mojave Desert.

[5] There are several proposals for even larger facilities seeking regulatory approval in California, such as the 2.7 GW Westlands Solar Park.

[7] In December 2017, the Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission.

[8] In May 2018, the California Energy Commission (CEC) required that nearly all new homes (both single-family and multi-family) under four stories be built with rooftop photovoltaic solar panels .

[19] The CEC released data showing that the system would more than pay for itself, however charitable organizations such as Habitat for Humanity have expressed their concerns as this will require the organization to receive additional donations to pay for the photovoltaic panels that the group would be required to install on every house it builds.

This is environmentally desirable because it would conserve large swaths of desert by placing panels atop preexisting structures instead.

However, this would supply three to four times peak midday demand, requiring output to be stored or exported on sunny days.

[47] South Belridge Oil Field, near Bakersfield, California, a solar EOR facility that is projected to eliminate 376,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.

On March 5, 2018, at around 1:00 pm, utility-scale solar energy met 50% of California's total electrical power demand for the first time.

California adopted feed-in tariffs, a tool similar to what Europe has been using, to encourage the solar power industry.

Proposals were raised aiming to create a small-scale solar market in California that brings the benefits of the German market, such as distributed generation, which avoids the need for transmission because power is generated close to where it is used, and avoid the drawbacks such as excessively high payments that could become a burden on utility customers.

[63] As part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Million Solar Roofs Program, California has set a goal to create 1,940 megawatts[64] of new, solar-produced electricity by 2016 – moving the state toward a cleaner energy future and helping lower the cost of solar systems for consumers.

[68] CSI provides more than $2 billion worth of incentives to customers for installing photovoltaic,[69] and electricity displacing solar thermal[70] systems in the three California Investor-Owned Utilities service territories.

The program was authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission and by the Senate Bill 1 (SB 1): Responsibility for administration of the CSI Program is shared by Investor-Owned Utilities: Residential installation starts in early 2007 fell off sharply in SCE territory because of the disincentives inherent in SB1, requiring time-of-use (TOU) tariffs, with the result that homeowners who install panels may find their electric bill increasing rather than decreasing.

[72] IREC best practices, based on experience, recommends no limits to net metering, individual or aggregate, and perpetual roll over of kWh credits.

[89] California governor Jerry Brown signed a streamlined permitting bill (AB 2188) for residential solar systems on September 22, 2014.

AB 2188 has four major provisions designed to reduce red-tape associated with local solar permits and requires that, by the end of September 2015, all California cities and counties must "adopt an ordinance that creates an expedited, streamlined permitting process for residential rooftop solar energy systems of less than 10 kilowatts in size.

"[90] Research and industry reports project the bill could reduce the cost of installing a typical residential solar system in the state by over $1,000.

[92] PACE financing has spread to 28 states, but is on hold in many due to objections by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, including in Berkeley (which has not continued the pilot as a result).

To remedy this, different sorts of power storage solutions have been proposed such as batteries, compressed air, and ice generation.

[96] Another issue is overproduction which is most common during the spring months, when electricity production from wind power is high, but demand from heating and cooling is low.

[98] California also has aggressive goals when it comes to zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs), and the most prominent type is the electric car, which relies on grid power to charge its battery.

[99] One potential solution is to bypass most of the grid with the installation of rooftop solar panels for daytime charging and making use of home energy storage at night.

Some electric companies will also provide discounted rates for car owners who charge their vehicles at night when demand is lower.

This leads to a steady rate of charging instead of a large spike in the early evening when most commuters return home.

[100] The majority of Californians in desert country support large-scale solar development, according to a 2012 survey conducted on behalf of BrightSource Energy.

The survey of more than 1,000 people was conducted throughout Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Riverside, San Bernardino counties in California, where many utility-scale solar projects are underway or planned.

Survey results showed that nearly four out of five (almost 80 percent) people strongly supported development of solar power in their communities.