An S.O.S. in the Sand – Governor: More Solar, Not Oil

Near the Huntington Beach oil spill, activists scribe a giant S.O.S. in the sand, imploring Governor Newsom to keep solar energy growing

Huntington Beach, CA— Before the tides rushed in to erase their work, activists moved quickly to scribe a 300-foot long S.O.S in the sand, urging Governor Gavin Newsom to choose solar energy over oil and other forms of fossil fuels. The action, orchestrated by a grassroots-led coalition called Save California Solar, reflects the growing sense of urgency in California and around the globe for governments to take immediate action to address global warming and reduce air pollution by doubling down on clean energy such as solar panels on roofs. 

Event photos and videos are available here.  

“The tides are coming in, and if we’re not careful, they will wash away our ability to stop climate change,” said Cailey Underhill, Field Organizer with the Solar Rights Alliance. “Governor Newsom and other leaders must make certain that California increases investments in solar energy. We need more solar energy now, not more oil spills.” 

“We hope Governor Newsom sees our S.O.S. and takes action to ‘save our solar’ and ‘save our shore,’” said Carensi Sansores, student and Save California Solar volunteer. “Denouncing the recent spill was appropriate, but it doesn’t mean a thing if our leaders put the kibosh on the state’s growing rooftop solar market. We need to heavily invest in the cleaner path, not just criticize dirty oil.” 

At the center of the action on the shores of Huntington Beach, where an estimated 25,000 gallons of oil spilled in early October, is a major fight between those who want clean air and the utility industry. At stake is the future of California’s rooftop solar market, one of the world’s largest clean energy markets. Utilities, threatened by consumers’ ability to generate their own energy from the sun and store it in batteries, are lobbying the Newsom administration to put the brakes on rooftop solar installations. They are proposing to charge consumers a new solar penalty fee and dramatically reduce the credit solar users get when their solar panels ‘spill’ surplus power onto the grid. 

The changes would come by way of modifications to a popular program called Net Energy Metering, which currently allows homes, schools, and businesses to generate their own energy from the sun and share surplus power with their neighbors. Regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will decide in the next few weeks the future of Net Metering, and with it the future of California’s world-renowned rooftop solar market. 

“When you drill, you spill, but with rooftop solar a spill is simply a sunny day with more than enough clean energy to power our homes and cars,” said Ayn Craciun, OC Policy Advocate with the Climate Action Campaign. “Governor Newsom should do everything he can to make rooftop solar more affordable to more people and not allow the utilities to block consumer access to our most abundant clean energy resource.”

According to the California Solar and Storage Association, it takes just four rooftop solar systems to offset the 25,000 gallons of oil spilled onto local beaches in October. California currently has over a million rooftop solar systems covering roughly one in ten buildings. Combined, these systems offset twice as much energy contained in the 25,000 gallons of oil in just one hour. California’s rooftop solar market is one of the largest and most powerful clean energy markets in the world adding up to ten nuclear power plants worth of clean energy, with plenty of room to keep growing. 

“We’ve only just begun building our clean energy future,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA). “The power of the sun is limitless if our political leaders stand up to the utilities and fight for the right of consumers to be part of the solution.” 

The Save California Solar coalition is urging the public to submit a comment to the CPUC and the governor via its website, www.savecaliforniasolar.org. A proposed decision is expected on or before December 10. 

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About Save California Solar 

Save California Solar is a coalition founded by the Solar Rights Alliance, California's association of solar users, to help ensure that rooftop solar continues to grow and benefit every Californian. Learn more at www.savecaliforniasolar.org.

Simi Valley Adopts Automated Permitting Tool to Dramatically Lower Cost of Installing Solar

Simi Valley joins a growing number of cities and counties to adopt SolarAPP+ for their residents and communities

Simi Valley, CA – This week the City of Simi Valley became the third municipality in California - and one of the first jurisdictions in the nation -  to formally launch SolarAPP+, an automated application to speed up and error-proof the process for permitting new residential rooftop solar and storage systems. This plan will not only expedite but also lower costs for solar installation.

To date, installing rooftop solar is about twice as expensive in the United States as it is in such country as Australia or Germany -- despite similar wages and equipment costs. This difference is caused by the “soft costs” associated with residential solar installations, which includes paying for a local building department permit. For a solar customer, these added expenses can amount to as much as $1 per watt of the installation, or $5,000 for a typical residential solar system. 

The SolarAPP+ program offers an integral way to cut permitting costs. Developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy and in the public interest, SolarAPP+ provides a web-based portal that streamlines and automates permit reviews, which makes it easy to integrate into existing local government permitting software and is free for local jurisdictions to adopt. A recent report by SPUR, a California-based think tank, found that the nationwide deployment of solar permitting tools like SolarAPP+ will lead to $7.5 billion in soft cost savings, $111 million in increased annual permit fee revenue for cities and counties, a three-fold increase in solar installations critical to meeting California’s clean energy targets, and the generation 780,000 jobs in the solar industry.

“SolarAPP+ will be a win-win for Simi Valley residents and our staff,” said Simi Valley Mayor Keith Mashburn. “By allowing our residents to go solar more efficiently, it will free up staff to focus on other permitting areas.”

The number of SolarAPP+ adopters is projected to dramatically expand in the coming year on the heels of the California state budget, signed by Governor Newsom on July 13, including $20 million for technical assistance targeted for local jurisdictions planning to adopt expedited permitting software such as SolarAPP+.

The move to make solar more affordable to all communities was applauded by state leaders as an important step in the local and national fight against climate change. 

“I was excited to help craft a climate budgetary package that included $20 million to streamline local solar and storage permitting, which will allow more Californians to make their homes climate-resilient and supports thousands of good-paying jobs," said Senator Henry Stern (D-Calabasas), who serves on the Senate Budget, Environmental Quality, Judiciary, and Energy, Utilities, and Communications and chairs the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management. “I applaud Simi Valley for leading the way in answering a national call to adopt more rooftop solar and storage, faster.”

The SolarAPP+ program offers an integral way to cut permitting costs. Developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, SolarAPP+ provides a web-based portal that streamlines and automates permit reviews, making it easier to integrate into existing local government permitting software. NREL introduced SolarAPP+ in late 2020 and, since then, has rapidly expanded the program’s capabilities.

Simi Valley joins the Southern California cities of Menifee, which was the fifth local jurisdiction in the nation to deploy SolarAPP+ (July 2021), and Beaumont, which is poised to commence piloting SolarAPP+.

“Streamlining rooftop solar can be a game changer for California’s move to 100% clean energy and for tens of thousands of solar installers around the state.” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director at the California Solar and Storage Association, an organization representing hundreds of contractors who build more than 430 rooftop solar systems every day in California. “Already, rooftop solar is growing fastest in low- and working-class communities and by lowering costs further, we can put solar in the hands of more people. Growing rooftop solar is extremely popular in our state, and it is encouraging to see so many local leaders eager to make solar more accessible to their constituents and maintain California’s commitment as a solar state.” 

The Biggest Battery in the World is Hanging on the Garage Wall

Consumers Looking for Climate Solutions and Energy Reliability Amidst Fires and Blackouts Turn to Battery Storage

Out of step with consumers, energy needs and climate change goals, California regulators consider utility industry proposals that would slow California’s globally significant solar-charged battery market

Sacramento, CA—A new study released today by the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) today showed California consumers added 300 megawatts (MW) of battery storage capacity since August 2020 as residents and businesses prepare against an unreliable energy grid and seek ways to reduce air pollution locally. More than 32,000 California consumers added over 20 MW of battery storage per month over the past year, doubling the number of systems and increasing the distributed energy storage market 70%.

In the aggregate, distributed battery storage capacity is larger than any single utility-scale battery facility. By comparison, a recent expansion at California’s Monterey County Moss Landing facility brought its total capacity to 400 megawatts. News reports declared it the largest battery in the world. Yet, that system is short of California’s distributed battery storage capacity which now stands at 721 MW.  

The market for distributed batteries is diverse, involving more than 62,000 installations at homes and businesses throughout the state, including targeted efforts in environmental justice communities hit hard by rolling blackouts. California consumers prefer to charge their batteries with solar photovoltaic modules located on the same property, with an estimated 70% of the battery inventory solar charged (link to memo). 

“In the face of dangerous fires and stressful blackouts, consumers are taking matters into their own hands rather than trusting big utilities like PG&E to look out for them,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of CALSSA. “Consumers can either choose fossil fuel backup generators or they can choose pollution-free and more reliable solar charged batteries, and an increasing number of consumers are looking to the sun for their energy solutions. This is a smart move for the individual that also ends up benefiting everyone by taking pressure off the grid and helping to make it more climate resilient.” 

More consumers are turning to battery storage, paired with rooftop solar, as their best defense against an unsafe and unreliable energy grid. Battery storage is considered by many to be a superior energy reliability strategy compared to diesel fuel generators which are loud, expensive to operate, and contribute to pollution and climate change-causing emissions. 

In addition, the availability of tens of thousands of individual batteries also provides greater reliability. If one battery malfunctions or goes down, the rest of the batteries are unaffected and remain online. This is not the case with utility-scale battery systems where the entire facility is taken offline when something goes wrong with even one small unit within, as has happened recently at the Moss Landing facility. 

“I live in an area frequently hit by power shut offs,” said Marquis Smith, a resident of American Canyon in Napa County. “Thanks to my solar and battery system, I’m known in the neighborhood as the guy with juice. I often toss an extension cord over the fence to help my neighbors get a charge during frequent blackouts.” 

Another season of blackouts and devastating fires reminds us not only of the need to curb the impacts of climate change, but also the importance of developing an energy grid that is safe, reliable, and resilient. 

Rooftop solar and battery storage are ready to be part of the solution. During the last year’s heatwave in August 2020, California’s energy regulators called upon the solar and storage industry to work with customers to voluntarily modify charging and discharging of their batteries in line with the grid’s greatest needs. Many customers complied, without compensation, to help save the day as highlighted in a joint letter to Governor Newsom. Yet, despite this, California’s investor-owned utilities are lobbying the state agency that regulates them, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), to make solar charged batteries more expensive. A move that would dramatically shrink the market. 

“Our government leaders should be doing more to help the average person invest in solar and batteries to achieve our clean energy goals and build a safer, more reliable electric grid,” said Del Chiaro. “That is why it is dumbfounding to see the California Public Utilities Commission considering proposals from big utilities that would make solar prohibitively expensive and halt our promising clean energy growth in the process.” 

The CPUC is moving towards a critical decision that will determine whether rooftop solar, along with battery storage, continues to grow or whether the state puts the brakes on this form of popular clean energy. At issue is the future of net metering, which makes solar-charged batteries more affordable for everyday consumers by blocking discriminatory fees and compensating people for the excess energy they produce and share with their neighbors, including energy from batteries that can be discharged in the evening. 

Currently 1.2 million consumers use net metering, including thousands of public schools and apartment buildings. The policy is responsible for dramatically growing rooftop solar in California by making it more affordable to working- and middle-class households, which now represent nearly half the solar market. Net metering can also drive the adoption of solar paired with energy storage if properly structured to create economies of scale and a glide path to growth. Proposals submitted by California’s investor-owned utilities would gut the market for solar as well as solar charged batteries by reducing the credit solar consumers receive for the excess energy they produce and adding a $65 to $90 monthly solar penalty fee to their energy bills. 

A draft decision from the presiding judge at the CPUC is expected in early December.

CSLB Agrees to Stay Enforcement of Restrictions on Solar Contractors

Thanks to CALSSA lawsuit and advocacy efforts solar contractors may continue to install solar + storage for now

San Francisco – Yesterday the Attorney General of California filed in San Francisco Superior Court a written stipulation agreeing to voluntarily stay enforcement of the Contractor State License Board (CSLB)’s July 27 decision limiting the ability for California’s solar contractors (C-46) to install solar paired with energy storage projects. As a result, C-46 solar contractors may continue to install solar and storage systems throughout California on and after November 1, 2021. 

The decision also means that the work of a C-46 contractor installing stand-alone solar or solar paired storage systems may continue to be done through the contractor’s existing trained and experienced solar workforce, and not be limited to hiring Certified Electricians, as required by the CSLB’s July 27 decision. CALSSA contends that there is a severe shortage of Certified Electricians and that they do not necessarily bring public safety benefits compared to the existing specialized solar workforce. The CSLB upheld the existing practice of allowing General A and General B license holders to continue installing solar and solar paired storage systems without using Certified Electricians as well. 

“This is a huge relief, albeit temporary, for hundreds of contractors up and down the state,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA). “The restrictions suddenly imposed this past summer were devastating and came at a time when consumers and the state as a whole desperately need more reliable clean energy, not less.” 

The stay agreed to by the CSLB stands until “this action is finally resolved, and the Petitioner-Plaintiff has agreed to withdraw its motion in exchange,” as stated in the stipulation. In other words, the stay on enforcement is good until the CSLB has promulgated new regulations or CALSSA has dropped its lawsuit. The bottom-line is contractors holding a C-46 solar license can continue to install solar and storage systems for at least 12-18 months, and possibly longer depending on the outcome and timeline of any new regulations. 

This decision to stay enforcement was made by a majority vote of the CSLB on Wednesday, September 29, and the written stipulation filed with the Court was negotiated between the Attorney General representing the CSLB and CALSSA’s litigation team at Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger. It represents a major victory in defense of California’s solar and storage industry but not the end of the road. 

“Much more work lies ahead to ensure that any new regulations are clear, consistent, and not harmful to our industry,” said Del Chiaro. “We sincerely hope the CSLB will work with CALSSA going forward and not try to cut corners again.” 

With this written stipulation, CALSSA has agreed to put a hold on its Preliminary Injunction which would have sought a court-ordered stay on enforcement. The voluntary stay has the same effect and was arrived at sooner than a court would have. CALSSA has not put a hold on its lawsuit claiming that the decision and subsequent bulletins are illegal, underground regulations but is willing to enter settlement negotiations with the CSLB.

“We won’t put a hold on our lawsuit until the Board concludes a legal decision-making process for any future regulations and carefully considers what it means to our industry, especially small businesses which make up the majority of our contractor base,” said Del Chiaro. 

CALSSA points out that the threat of future licensing restrictions remains at the CSLB. The difference is, thanks to CALSSA’s litigation, any new restrictions would be arrived at through a rule-making process that adheres to the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). Such a process typically takes 12-18 months and, according to the law, must be based in fact, be clear and consistent, and consider economic impacts especially to small businesses. If the new regulations don’t adhere to the APA, then CALSSA could decide to take CSLB once again to court. 

“It is CALSSA’s sincere hope that this will not be necessary,” clarified Del Chiaro. “But the solar and storage industry is here to stay. We might be small compared to our opponents in the fossil fuel industry, but we work together to speak with one voice.”  

In addition to the existential fight at the licensing board, CALSSA is also engaged in a consequential battle over the future of Net Energy Metering (NEM) at the California Public Utilities Commission. The same labor union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) that pushed the illegal regulations at the CSLB were also behind AB 1139, a bill that mirrored the NEM fight at the CPUC and would have devastated the rooftop solar industry harming existing and future consumers. The bill was shot down by the legislature in June but only after a grueling battle that required the engagement of thousands of voters, small businesses, and environmental groups. 

“This has been quite the year and we are not out of the woods yet,” reflected Del Chiaro. “Our hope is that Governor Newsom exerts some leadership and protects the current and future growth of distributed solar and energy storage in California.”

CALSSA Statement on Vibrant Clean Energy Report Showing Billions in Savings from Growth of Solar and Storage

Report reveals “by essentially halting the solar and storage market, the utility profit grab would cost California tens of billions over time and each ratepayer $295 a year.”

Sacramento, CA — The California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) released the following statement on the new grid modeling report from Vibrant Clean Energy which showed growing local solar and storage would save California ratepayers $120 billion over the next 30 years, the equivalent of $295 per year for the average California ratepayer:

The Vibrant Energy Report adds yet another benefit to the many positives that come with growing local solar and storage: big savings for everyone in California.

The report also reveals just how costly it would be if investor-owned utilities get their way at the California Public Utilities Commission as the agency considers adjustments to net metering, the program responsible for making solar affordable and growing in middle- and working-class neighborhoods. Proposals submitted by the big utilities would drastically reduce the credit solar consumers receive for the excess energy they produce and add a $65-90 monthly solar penalty fee to their energy bills. It’s an effort by utilities to eliminate a growing competitor in the energy market and secure a primary source of profits through the construction of long-distance transmission lines, which local solar helps reduce.

By essentially halting the local solar and storage market, and turning potential savings into costs borne by consumers, the utility profit grab would cost California tens of billions over time and each ratepayer $295 a year.

California is and has always been a solar state. Utility proposals are out of step with the deep popularity of rooftop solar in the golden state. In addition to massive cost increases for California ratepayers, the utility profit grab would undermine California’s clean energy goals and take our station from leading the nation in expanding solar in working- and middle-class neighborhoods to a solar unfriendly state where clean energy is accessible only to the rich.

CALSSA Statement on Biden Administration’s Plan to Produce 45% of the Nation’s Energy from the Sun by 2050

On Wednesday the Biden administration’s Energy Department released a blueprint to produce 45% of the nation’s electricity through solar energy by 2050 as a critical part of the effort to fight climate change. A new report from the Energy Department clarified that meeting the goal requires the U.S. to “install an average of 30 GW of solar capacity per year between now and 2025 and 60 GW per year from 2025-2030.” That commitment means an immediate doubling of the amount of solar being built today. In 2020, the U.S. installed a record 15 GW of solar power, bringing total capacity up to 76 GW which represents 3% of the national electricity supply.

At the same time, in California the Newsom Administration’s Public Utilities Commission is moving towards a critical decision that will determine whether rooftop solar continues to grow or whether the state puts the brakes on this form of popular clean energy. At issue is the future of net metering, which makes rooftop solar affordable for everyday consumers by blocking discriminatory fees and compensating people for the excess energy they produce and share with their neighbors. 

Currently 1.2 million consumers use net metering, including thousands of public schools and apartment buildings. The policy is responsible for dramatically growing rooftop solar in California by making it more affordable to working and middle class households, which now represent nearly half the solar market. Proposals submitted by California’s investor owned utilities would halt the expansion of rooftop solar by reducing the credit solar consumers receive for the excess energy they produce and adding a $65 to $90 monthly solar penalty fee to their energy bills. Whether solar energy continues to grow on par with the Biden blueprint hangs in the balance. 

The California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) released the following statement on the Biden administration’s plan from CALSSA executive director Bernadette Del Chiaro: 

“Solar consumers, workers, small business owners and clean energy advocates all over our state applaud the Biden administration’s goal to produce nearly half of our national energy from the sun within the next 30 years. The new plan aligns with California’s established goal of getting to 100% by 2045, but puts a clear emphasis on the here and now by showing the near term needs for solar growth today, not just in 25 years. 

No matter how you add it up, these ambitious and necessary clean energy commitments will require a lot more solar energy, not less. California, and America at-large, need all forms of solar energy to grow, including utility-scale solar that investor-owned utilities prefer, but to make the transition to 100% clean energy, and to make that transition less expensive for ratepayers while helping conserve open space, requires advancing rooftop solar in a big way. 

Because of rooftop solar’s essential role in meeting state and national clean energy goals, it is especially puzzling that the CPUC, at the request of large investor owned utilities, is considering drastic changes to net metering. Proposals by the utilities would pull the plug on the expansion of rooftop solar by making it prohibitively expensive for consumers of all types to benefit from solar in their homes, businesses and schools.  

The utility-driven effort to kill rooftop solar in California is out of step with our clean energy goals at a time when the climate crisis demands we help a lot more people go solar.” 

Additional Roof Top Solar Resources 

Cost savings: A new grid modeling report from Vibrant Clean Energy shows growing local solar and storage would save California ratepayers $120 billion over the next 30 years, the equivalent of $295 per year for the average California ratepayer. Utility proposes to curb rooftop solar would have the opposite effect. By essentially halting the local solar and storage market, and turning potential savings into costs borne by consumers, the utility profit grab would cost California tens of billions over time and each ratepayer $295 a year.

Ability to scale up fast: California is currently building a power plant’s worth of rooftop solar - 500 megawatts - every five months. Rooftop solar can be up on homes and apartments in a matter of days and operating on commercial properties in weeks -- faster than any other reviewable energy can come online. By contrast, utility scale solar projects take an average of six years to complete.

Land use: A new study by Environment California found that building 28.5 GW of rooftop solar, rather than utility-scale solar, would enable California to maintain existing land uses on more than 148,000 acres of land, an area about half the size of the City of Los Angeles.

CALSSA Launches a $1 Million Defense Fund Campaign

Calls on solar leaders to pitch in for common goal of keeping the nation’s largest and most successful distributed generation market strong and growing

Sacramento, CA—Kicking off their largest fundraising campaign in history, the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) has announced a goal of raising one million dollars in September to defend California’s position as the country’s leading solar and storage market.

With California’s cornerstone clean energy policy, Net Energy Metering (NEM), under an unprecedented assault from some of the country’s biggest utility and natural gas companies, CALSSA has put together a robust plan that includes legal counsel, paid advertising, and petition gathering among many other activities to defend California’s distributed energy industry. However, this all comes with a hefty price tag, so the association is asking members and solar supporters from across the industry to pitch in to keep California’s solar and storage market alive.

“California’s world-renowned solar market is under siege by some of the country’s most powerful fossil fuel industry players,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association. “We can win but we need everyone to stand up and help us fight.”

Activities the association will invest in include generating 200,000 public comments, field organizing, paid media, and a full suite of top-of-the-line legal representation. Investor-owned utilities are pushing for monthly fees of on average $78 per solar household, reducing the credit consumers receive for surplus solar electricity sent back to the grid on summer days by 77% and making solar all but uneconomical for disadvantaged communities that are the most needing of reliable clean energy and storage as the state faces massive fires and power shut-offs. The California Public Utility Commission may rule on NEM by the end of the year, making the next several months critical for CALSSA’s efforts.

“One million dollars in one month may seem like a lot, but it’s a drop in the bucket to what is at stake for our companies and the jobs we support,” said Del Chiaro.

Companies wanting to contribute to CALSSA’s Solar & Storage Defense Fund can go here to make a donation or reach out to josh@calssa.org to discuss giving options.

California Sets First-in-Nation Requirements for Solar & Energy Storage; Outcomes of Decision Depend on Net Metering Rules Expected Later This Year

The California Energy Commission (CEC) today approved the 2022 California Energy Code, which sets the building standards for new construction. In a historic unanimous vote, California became the first state in the country to require builders to install solar and battery storage on new commercial buildings and high-rise multifamily buildings. The approved Energy Code also includes requirements for builders to design single-family homes so battery storage can be easily added to the already existing solar system in the future as well as incentives to eliminate natural gas from new buildings.

This decision intensifies the spotlight on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which holds the keys to whether these standards ever go into effect. Solar PV and energy storage, whether on homes or commercial properties, is directly dependent on net metering which sets the credit commercial and residential solar customers receive for the energy their panels deliver to the grid as well as provides protections from discriminatory fees placed on solar consumers by utilities. Utilities like PG&E are pushing the CPUC to make drastic changes to net metering which could subject the new building standards to revocation by making distributed clean energy technologies not cost effective for consumers.

“With the dire warnings by the world’s scientists about climate change as background, today’s vote is another historic first-in-the-nation move by California to literally build a cleaner energy future,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA), the state’s largest clean energy business association. “But we need the cooperation of the entire Newsom Administration to deliver solutions to consumers.”

The commercial mandate would accelerate the installation of solar and energy storage across the state. The mandate, which would add 280 MW of solar annually according to the Energy Commission’s estimates, combined with continued installations on existing structures would bring the total amount of commercial solar installed annually to over 600 MW – equivalent to the power produced by a typical natural gas power plant. The mandate also would add 400 MWh of batteries to commercial buildings, spurring the growth of the nascent energy storage market that is crucial for providing clean power in the evening and overnight. Combined, and assuming no radical changes to net metering, today’s decision could increase California’s solar market by roughly 22% and today’s behind-the-meter energy storage market many fold.

New features of the 2022 building standards 

1. Commercial and high-rise multifamily PV and storage requirement

   1. New construction of select building types (grocery stores, high-rise multifamily buildings, offices, financial institutions, retail stores, schools, warehouses, auditoriums, conventions centers, hotels, motels, medical offices, restaurants, and theaters) are expected to have PV and storage. Multi-tenant buildings in utility service territories without VNEM will be exempt. Buildings and units <5,000 square feet will be exempt from storage.

   2. The PV will be sized to meet a target of 60% of the building’s loads. The storage will be sized to reduce exports to 10%.

   3. Overall, the Energy Commission expects the standards to add 280 MW of PV to the grid annually, which will grow the commercial market by approximately 70 percent. The Commission also expects the standards to result in 100MW/400MWH of storage annually.

2. New single-family homes must be “battery-ready”

   1. New single-family homes must be wired so energy storage systems can easily be added later. To that end, the standards require a minimum 225-amp busbar, four backed-up circuit (two of which must be the refrigerator and bedroom receptacle outlet), and either a subpanel or split-bus main panel for those circuits.

3. Incentives for solar hot water

   1. As a result of the report commissioned by CALSSA on the cost-effectiveness and GHG reduction benefits of different water heating technologies, the standards have increased the amount of compliance credit for solar hot water.

   2. The standards put in place the new electrification baseline, requiring homes to electrify the water heating or space heating, or invest heavily in efficiency features. Homes built with solar hot water will receive more compliance credit than homes built with heat pump water heaters.

   3. Solar hot water is now a prescriptive compliance option for single-family homes.

4. Fixing the community solar program

   1. When the Commission created the new home PV mandate in the current standards, they allowed one path for compliance to be community solar. However, the community solar compliance option lacked guiderails, and as a result, SMUD created a predatory community solar program, that mostly notably effectively prevented homes enrolled in the community solar program from installing rooftop solar for 20 years. In the proposed new standards, community solar programs must allow homes to unenroll by installing rooftop solar.

   2. The proposed new standards make other adjustments to the community solar compliance option such as that the community solar project must be on a distribution circuit, though the Commission stopped short of making other changes we advocated for such as that the energy bill savings should be comparable to that of customer-sited solar.

Greening the Heat Supply: Solar Heat Worldwide 2021 highlights achievements of solar heating and cooling globally

In 2020, Germany was the world’s leading solar district heating market, while China saw the largest increase in the number of industrial solar heat systems added in a single country. This year’s edition of Solar Heat Worldwide is the first to highlight the top three countries for a variety of application areas. Published annually by the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme, the report has become a well-trusted source of solar thermal data and a go-to reference for international organisations such as REN21 and the International Renewable Energy Agency. The 2021 edition plus key messages are available for free on the IEA SHC website.

"Solar heating and cooling systems with 501 GWth were in operation at the end of 2020 and saved 43.8 million tons of oil and 141.3 million tons of CO2. The standout application is once again solar district heating plants and their important contribution in decarbonizing the heating sector. With Germany, Denmark and China leading the way and generating interest in other parts of the world," states Tomas Olejniczak, Chair of the IEA SHC Programme.

Solar Heat Worldwide contains multiple important chapters on the successful use of solar heat by different customer groups. The steadily growing, global PVT market is a special feature of this year’s report. The combination of solar Photovoltaic (PV) and Thermal (T) in one collector leads the trend towards hybrid solar heat solutions, experiencing a steady growth of 9 % annually on average from 2018 to 2020 and 8 % in the dominant European market. Tibet and Ghana are some of the new markets emerging outside of Europe.

Market Leaders

Solar thermal heating and cooling systems serve millions of residential, commercial, and industrial clients worldwide with a wide variety of technologies. Below are the top three countries for different market segments.

Growth Despite COVID-19

Despite the pandemic taking a heavy toll on most national economies in 2020, some large solar thermal markets grew due to increased policy support, like in Germany and the Netherlands. In Turkey and Brazil, demand for solar water heaters increased as homeowners spent more time at home and made improvements around the house.

Positive trend: Increasing sales in major solar thermal markets in 2020.
Source: Solar Heat Worldwide 2021

Number of Multi-MW Solar District Heating Systems Keeps Growing
The leading markets related to the total number of solar district heating systems in operation are Denmark (124 systems), Germany (43), Sweden (22), Austria (19), China (18), and Poland (8). This cost-effective way of greening the heat supply of neighborhoods, towns, and even cities sparks new interest in markets like France, Switzerland, Russia, and South Africa. 

This 3.5 MWth plant feeds heat into the district heating network of the Austrian town of Münzzuschlag with 8,500 inhabitants Photo: SOLID Solar Energy Systems

Targeted Energy Policies Drive Solar Heating Growth
Germany's solar thermal market confirms the impact that targeted energy policies can have. About 10 years ago, Germany was by far Europe's largest solar thermal market with 1.5 GWth of new capacity, but by 2019 it was hovering around 0.36 GWth of new capacity. But times have changed, and in 2020 Germany's solar thermal market increased by approximately 26 % compared to 2019 to around 650,000 m², corresponding to nearly 0.5 GWth of newly installed capacity. The dramatic increase in demand is largely due to the new federal subsidy for efficient buildings.

PV2heat (using PV to heat water) is a new take on hot water heating that is emerging in South Africa. These systems consist of PV modules directly connected to an electrical element that heats the water with DC power without the need for inverters. By the end of 2020, there were 11,700 PV2heat systems installed in South Africa.

Solar heat for industrial processes (SHIP) continues its global growth, with at least 74 plants added in 2020, increasing the world market to 891 projects in operation at year´s end with an overall installed collector area of 1.13 million m2. The SHIP plants are used for many applications, with the largest at an oil production plant in Oman (300 MWth), followed by a greenhouse application in Australia (36.6 MWth) and copper mine in Chile (27.5 MWth)

Solar cooling is trending toward hybrid solutions to improve efficiency and an investment advantage up to 40% to conventional solar cooling systems.

IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme is in a phase of strong expansion both in terms of widening the research topics and increasing regional coverage. The Programme is supported by 19 countries, the European Commission, and eight international organisations, among them the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) and the European Copper Institute (ECI) and the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC). Together, they work on a wide range of topics, from innovative compact storage tank designs to solar cooling and the integration of large-scale solar fields into district heating and cooling networks.

For more information: IEA SHC Communications: Pam Murphy, communications@iea-shc.org

CA Counties and Cities Urged to Adopt SolarAPP+ as Biden Administration Launches New Cost Saving Platform

Solar advocates across California applauded the Biden Administration’s newly launched SolarAPP+ and urged county and city leaders to quickly adopt the breakthrough resource to help lower the cost for consumers to go solar.  

SolarAPP+ is an automated application to speed up and increase the accuracy of the process for permitting new residential rooftop solar and storage systems. The new consumer-friendly tool – identified by the Biden Administration as a priority and released today by Department of Energy Secretary Granholm – will not only expedite but also lower costs for solar and storage installation.

To date, installing rooftop solar is about twice as expensive in the United States as it is in such countries as Australia or Germany – despite similar wages and equipment costs. This difference is caused by the “soft costs” associated with residential solar installations, which includes paying for a local building department permit. For a solar customer, these added expenses can amount to as much as $1 per watt of the installation, or $5,000 for a typical residential solar system.

The SolarAPP+ program offers an integral way to cut permitting costs. Developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, SolarAPP+ provides a web-based portal that streamlines and automates permit reviews, making it easier to integrate into existing local government permitting software. 

NREL introduced SolarAPP+ in late 2020 and, since then, has rapidly expanded the program’s capabilities. In April 2021, Pleasant Hill became the first California city to adopt SolarAPP+, and several California cities and counties are on track to formally adopt it later this year.  The number of SolarAPP+ adopters is projected to dramatically expand in the coming year on the heels of the California state budget, signed by Governor Newsom on July 13, included $20 million for technical assistance targeted for local jurisdictions planning to adopt expedited permitting software such as SolarAPP+.

“The $20 million investment in the State’s budget will help us streamline the permitting process for residential rooftop solar and energy storage, allowing more Californians to access clean energy,” said Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who authored a bill this year to require California cities to adopt app-based solar permitting and who worked to obtain funding in the California budget to help cities implement. “This budget will help California achieve our climate goals more quickly and cost-effectively and allow more homeowners to participate in our clean energy future.”

"With a $20 million investment in automated solar permitting, California promises to save California homeowners up to $3 billion in permit-related costs over the coming decade. This is not only a win for our climate, but also our residents’ pocketbooks. It’s a model that all local jurisdictions should follow," said Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting (D-San Francisco).

“SolarAPP+ is a much needed step forward to make the process of installing rooftop solar in California friction-free and consumer-friendly," said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild. "With over one million rooftop solar energy systems, California is adding approximately 400 new rooftop solar systems a day, helping to make our energy system cleaner, more resilient and distributed.”

Jurisdictions across the state are already moving to implement SolarAPP+ and help local consumers save money. 

"When the City of San Jose became an early adopter of automated solar permitting, the volume of rooftop solar applications jumped six-fold," said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. "I am thrilled about the prospect of municipalities across the nation joining our efforts to utilize tools like SolarAPP+ to fight climate change and create renewable energy. 

"As the author of Senate Bill 100 which catalyzed the state's transition to a 100% renewable portfolio standard, making California the first in the nation to do so, I welcome the national launch of SolarAPP+," said Councilmember and former California Senate President pro tempore Kevin de Leon. "I believe this tool will stimulate the City of Los Angeles to expedite permitting and allow us to keep leading the way toward a Green New Deal locally, statewide, and nationally."

"As the first city in the nation to electrify new buildings, Berkeley takes its role as a climate leader very seriously," said Jesse Arreguin, Berkeley Mayor and President of the Association of Bay Area Government. "I am excited to bring SolarAPP+ to our community, as it is a vital tool for us to continue our city's and the larger Bay Area's work in combating climate change while generating thousands of good-paying local jobs."

For installers across the state, this streamlining will be a game changer. Local rooftop solar installers were quick to hail the launch of SolarAPP+.

“Using SolarApp+ should also help rein in the ‘soft costs’ of going solar, which could have a big impact on solar deployment. “Cost is one of the biggest barriers to going solar,” said Igor Tregub, senior policy advisor at the California Solar and Storage Association, an organization representing hundreds of contractors who build more than 430 rooftop solar systems every day in California. “Already, rooftop solar is growing fastest in low- and working-class communities and by lowering costs further, we can put solar in the hands of more people.” 

The local leadership is also being celebrated by the environmental community. 

“As California faces a worsening drought, more heatwaves and the prospect of catastrophic wildfires for yet another year, the need for cities and the state to take action on climate couldn’t be clearer,” said Laura Deehan, state director for Environment California. “We hope cities and counties all over California will help their residents go solar by automating the permitting process with SolarApp+.”

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The California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) has advanced the common interest of the solar and storage industry for over 40 years, making California the most robust market in the U.S. The association is the state’s largest clean energy business group with over 600 member companies, primarily small businesses based in communities throughout the state, that manufacture, design, install, finance and provide other resources to the growing local solar and storage market in California. Learn more at www.calssa.org.

Environment California is dedicated to protecting our air, water and open spaces. We work to protect the places we love, advance the environmental values we share, and win real results for our environment. For more information, visit www.environmentcalifornia.org.

Diverse Coalition Defends Rooftop Solar Against Utility Profit Grab

After defeating AB 1139 in the legislature, the fight to defend consumer solar and keep clean energy growing continues against utility efforts to increase profits by making solar more expensive. 

30-foot-tall inflatable “Utility Profit Grab Man” visited CA Public Utility Commission Headquarters

San Francisco, CA—Clean energy advocates, environmental groups, solar consumers, and businesses—fresh off defeating AB 1139 in the state legislature—are fighting back against the continued big utility “profit grab” that aims to make rooftop solar more expensive, harm consumers, and slow down California’s clean energy progress. They joined together at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to call on state leaders to keep solar affordable and growing in California as the Newsom Administration considers changes to “net metering,” the state policy that defines how solar users send energy back to and interact with the electric grid. Following the event, supporters delivered more than 30,000 petitions against utility-proposed changes to net metering to CPUC’s headquarters.  

“Our coalition of solar consumers and clean energy activists did the unexpected and stopped a bill in Sacramento driven by big utilities and some of the state’s most powerful interests,” said Dave Rosenfeld, executive director of the Solar Rights Alliance. “Now as we turn our attention to this newest threat to affordable clean energy, the CPUC and Governor Newsom can expect to hear our voices in even greater volume.” 

Net metering is intended to put the benefits of rooftop solar in the hands of more people, and it’s doing just that. Hundreds of thousands of families, renters, businesses, schools, and others across California are saving money on their utility bills with rooftop solar. In fact, working and middle-class neighborhoods make up nearly 50% of today’s rooftop solar market. Rooftop solar is helping consumers of all types lower their energy bills and, when coupled with storage, is a consumer’s best defense against spiking energy costs and unpredictable power outages. Not only that, many of the state’s low-income solar programs rely on net metering to deliver bill savings to vulnerable populations. 

“What the big utilities are proposing would do nothing short of halting the rooftop solar industry in its tracks, just as our economy and clean energy needs demand we go forward,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association. California voters overwhelmingly support the growth of rooftop solar and oppose the push by investor-owned utilities to increase their own profits by making solar more expensive for everyone.”  

By undermining net metering, making solar more expensive for everyone and halting critical clean energy expansion, the utility profit grab is out of step with California’s long-standing environmental and clean energy goals and the growing need for a reliable energy supply in the face of wildfires and grid outage events. It would take California backward to a time when solar was only affordable for the wealthy, and reverse the rapid growth of solar currently happening everywhere and especially in middle- and working-class neighborhoods across the state. 

"California is in a climate emergency, with record shattering heat waves, drought and wildfires spreading across the state,” warned Laura Deehan, state director of Environment California. “It couldn’t be more clear: The devastating effects of global warming are here now. To face down this danger, we have to get to 100% renewable energy as fast as possible, and rooftop solar is one of our best tools to get there. With so much at stake, California gutting net metering would reverse our trajectory as a leader in solving global warming right when our leadership is needed most." 

As symbolized by the giant 30-foot-tall “Utility Profit Grab Man” stationed outside CPUC headquarters, the motive for big utilities is profits. PG&E and other utilities want to change the rules in their favor so they can profit off the energy created by solar consumers and eliminate a growing competitor in the energy market. 

"The real cost shift happening in California is the exorbitant sums of ratepayer money being stolen from local renewables to subsidize transmission lines — which mostly benefit the utilities, who make huge guaranteed profits from transmission spending,” explains Rosana Francescato of Clean Coalition. “Transmission costs are the fastest-growing component of electricity bills in California, and deploying more rooftop solar has been shown to mitigate these costs.”

A wide range of environmental groups and solar supporters joined the event and shared the critical role rooftop solar plays in realizing California’s clean energy goals. 

"As a national leader in building electrification and climate equity, the City of Berkeley is counting on the Governor and CPUC to make plentiful and affordable access to rooftop solar a priority," said Jesse Arreguin, Berkeley Mayor and President of the Association of Bay Area Governments. "This will ensure that our state continues to lead the nation in our shared climate action and equity goals."

At a time when many of California's 18 million tenants are just fighting to remain housed, investor-owned utilities are trying to drive up their rates if their building includes rooftop solar," said Mari Perez-Ruiz, Chair of the California Democratic Party Renters Council. "Renters deserve more rooftop solar, not more bailouts to PG&E, SoCal Gas, and Sempra."

“We need more solar where we live, local clean energy, local jobs, and local community resilience,” states Laura Neish, the 350 Bay Area executive director. “The CPUC and the utilities are not looking at roof-top solar correctly— not seeing its benefits and giving a fair value for those benefits including better air quality and health, better land use, affordability of electricity and resiliency.” 

“California gets that we have gone beyond a Climate Crisis to a Climate Emergency,” said Bill Allayaud, California director of government affairs for the Environmental Working Groups. “It is all hands on deck right now and inhibiting installation of rooftop solar by those who want to participate is the wrong move at this time. The PUC needs to pause and be certain that any move it makes is right for consumers and best for the environment.” 

Fully embracing rooftop solar is a no-brainer. With every new solar panel installed, we reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, keep pollution out of our communities and reduce carbon emissions,” said Jenn Engstrom, State Director of CALPIRG. “Rooftop solar benefits consumers too. Here in California, homes, schools and businesses that go solar reduce our overall need for grid investments today, while helping build the clean and resilient grid of the future.”

"Affordable and sustainable housing is a human right," said Paola Laverde, former Chair of the Berkeley Rent Board and a member of the Berkeley Tenants Union Steering Committee. "We call on the Governor and CPUC to make it more affordable - not less - for tenants to have rooftop solar powering their homes."  

CALSSA Statement on Consumer Protection

Consumer protection is our highest priority. Our industry has very little if not the trust of our customers. The ethical and reasonable conduct of our member companies forms the very foundation our Association. For decades, we have worked to promote best practices among our members as well as worked closely with state agencies tasked with the oversight of home improvement contracts, such as adding solar panels to a home, to make sure consumers are informed and protected. We remain steadfast in our commitment to this work today. CALSSA offers a consumer hotline to mediate customer complaints efficiently and effectively. We encourage all consumers to avail themselves of this service. CALSSA also has a strict Member Code of Ethics and Consumer Protection Rules expected of every member in good standing.

Schools, Climate and Equity Leaders, Consumers, Small Businesses Rally Against Utility “Profit Grab"

Grassroots rally highlighted investor-owned utility efforts to increase profits by stopping the growth of solar in working- and middle-class neighborhoods.

Sacramento, CA — Today, hundreds of solar consumers including schools and renters, small businesses, community organizers, and environmental organizations gathered on the grounds and streets around the California Capitol building wearing masks and waiving “No on AB 1139” signs in protest of a bill that would make rooftop solar more expensive in the state, harming consumers. Meanwhile, encircling the Capitol grounds, solar work trucks blew their horns to draw attention to the small solar contracting businesses that would be harmed by the bill.

Assembly Bill 1139, by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, currently under consideration in the state legislature, pushes the profitable investor-owned utility plan to add new fees on all rooftop solar consumers, including schools, non-profit affordable housing, and local governments, and reduce the credit they receive for excess energy sent back to the grid. AB 1139 also threatens to change the rules on existing solar users after the state encouraged their rooftop solar investment. This bill would harm all solar users, particularly 150,000 existing low-income solar homeowners and an estimated 300,000 renters at affordable housing projects with solar. At the same time, utilities are pushing the CA Public Utilities Commission to add similar fees and reduce credits for solar consumers. 

By making solar more expensive for everyone and halting critical clean energy expansion, the utility profit grab is out of step with California’s long-standing environmental and energy goals and especially out of place given the repeated wildfires and grid outage events. It would take California backwards to a time when solar was only affordable for the wealthy, and reverse the rapid growth of solar currently happening in middle and working class neighborhoods across the state. 

“My priority is energy democracy in communities of concern but when I flew up to Sacramento yesterday I saw solar roofs everywhere- on schools, churches, farms - thousands of people who made significant investments in clean energy who will face a tsunami of harm from AB 1139,” said Eddie Price of San Diego Urban Sustainability Coalition. 

The motive is profits. PG&E and other big utilities want to change the rules in their favor so they can profit off the energy created by solar consumers and eliminate a growing competitor in the energy market. 

“The big utilities cannot stand the fact that they do not profit when consumers put solar on their roof,” says Dave Rosenfeld, executive director of the Solar Rights Alliance. “They want to change net metering rules in their favor and add new fees to make solar more expensive, all so they can double-dip and make money off of energy they do not even produce. This threatens to harm early adopters of clean energy and put solar out of reach for middle and working class families going forward.”

Big utilities want their profit grab to stay under the radar. But, consumers are fighting back. Today, solar consumers gathered together for a lively event, including a Capitol rally with over 150 socially distanced participants, a loud solar work truck caravan around the Capitol grounds, oversized banners and a 30 foot tall inflatable “utility profit grab monopoly man”.  

"The real benefit to all ratepayers is not having to build 25 large natural gas power plants because of the 10 gigawatts produced by rooftop solar,” said Berkeley City Councilmember Kate Harrison. “Early adoption of rooftop solar also brought down the cost of solar for everyone and helped make this industry a reality. Equity for ratepayers is critical; that equity can be achieved by the utilities and the state by expanding eligibility programs for low-income customers not by making solar more expensive."

“AB 1139 would effectively end school solar energy projects that allow schools to continue to educate students through disruptions caused by rolling blackouts and public safety power shutoffs,” said Nancy Chaires Espinoza of Schools Energy Coalition. “These projects are also essential to our ability to continue to operate the meal programs on which our most vulnerable children rely.”

"California is in a drought emergency and wildfires are already burning in Los Angeles,” warned Laura Deehan, state director of Environment California. “It couldn’t be more clear: The devastating effects of global warming are here now. To face down this danger, we have to get to 100% renewable energy as fast as possible, and rooftop solar is one of the best tools to get us there. With so much at stake, AB 1139 is the wrong answer. It would reverse California's momentum as a leader in solving global warming at the worst possible time." 

Additional solar consumers and advocates shared how rooftop solar makes clean energy accessible and react to big utilities’ profit grab: 

"At a time when many of California's 18 million tenants are just fighting to remain housed, investor-owned utilities are trying to drive up their rates if their building includes rooftop solar," said Monica Madrid, Board Member of the California Democratic Party Renters Council. "AB 1139 is a bad deal for all Californians - and especially for renters." 

"In my working class Sacramento neighborhood, we empower our hard working neighbors to have more control over their destiny, to create self-sufficiency, and pass it on to future generations," said Fatima Malik of the Del Paso Heights Growers' Alliance, "The government's job is to help foster more community self-reliance, not carry out the monopoly utilities' bidding and crush community empowerment solutions like rooftop solar. Lawmakers that truly care about equity for working people must defeat AB 1139."

“Small solar businesses are struggling through the Covid-19 pandemic and this bill would cause further hardship leading to massive layoffs and business shutdowns,” said Brad Heavner, policy director of the California Solar & Storage Association. “Over 65,000  jobs are threatened so that PG&E can make more money while causing more wildfires and blackouts.”  

Today’s event was hosted by the Solar Rights Alliance and the California Solar & Storage Association, as part of the Save California Solar coalition. For more information about the fight to save rooftop solar in California click here. For more information on AB 1139 click here. A recording from today’s live-streamed event is available at CALSSA’s Facebook page.

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About the Solar Rights Alliance 
Solar Rights Alliance is the nonprofit association of California solar users. We believe everyone has the right to make energy from the sun without unreasonable interference by the utilities. We keep track of what politicians, regulators and utilities are up to, and alert the public when there is a threat to rooftop solar, or an opportunity to help more Californians access rooftop solar. Learn more at www.solarrights.org.

About CALSSA 
The California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) has advanced the common interest of the solar and storage industry for over 40 years, making California the most robust market in the U.S. The association is the state’s largest clean energy business group with over 600 member companies, primarily small businesses based in communities throughout the state, that manufacture, design, install, finance and provide other resources to the growing local solar and storage market in California. Learn more at calssa.org.

As Summer Approaches, California Utility Campaign Against Consumer Access to Solar, Batteries Heats Up

Jonathan Scott of “Power Trip” and Former Kern County Oil Worker Turned Solar Worker to Testify before Committee in Defense of Consumer Solar and Storage

The recent spike in temperatures is a reminder that summer is almost here, and, along with it, the threat of blackouts and wildfires. Yet, solutions to California’s energy safety and reliability problems, such as rooftop solar panels and garage batteries, are facing increasing threats as investor-owned utilities and their allies put political pressure on the California state legislature to block consumer choice and protect the utilities' monopoly over expanding electricity markets.

“Policy makers looking to prevent more blackouts and wildfires have two polar opposite bills to vote on tomorrow,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, Executive Director of the California Solar & Storage Association. “One bill is a killer of consumer choice, energy reliability, jobs, and climate change solutions, and the other is a public-interest backed solution that ushers in a future of advanced clean energy technologies to help keep the lights on. Were it not for the undue influence of utilities, this would be a straight-forward vote.”

Two bills, AB 1139 (Gonzalez) and AB 427 (Bauer Kahan) will face off in tomorrow’s Assembly Utilities & Energy Committee chaired by Pasadena Democrat, Assembly member Chris Holden.

The utility-backed bill, AB 1139, would cripple the consumer solar and storage market by gutting a popular and effective policy called “net metering.” The bill would retroactively harm those who have already gone solar, including low-income and working-class solar users who are nearing 50% of the annual market, by slapping $50-86 monthly solar fees and lowering the financial value of the rooftop solar energy exported to the grid by more than 80%.  

“The utilities and their allies are trying to justify AB 1139 with flat out lies about rooftop solar,” said Del Chiaro. "Rooftop solar and battery storage help reduce energy bills for everyone by lowering infrastructure costs, which cuts into utility profits and underscore what this fight is really all about." 

Among those testifying against AB 1139 are Jonathan Scott who produced the documentary Power Trip about how utilities across the country are blocking rooftop solar from getting into the hands of everyday consumers; and Troy Carroll, a Kern County native who turned from oil industry worker to solar industry worker and will address the need to keep clean energy jobs growing in California.

The other bill, AB 427, would grow California’s consumer solar and storage market by creating virtual power plants out of the state’s growing number of small-scale solar and energy storage systems, linking together with the push of a button tens of thousands of solar-charged batteries within minutes of an identified grid-need such as what happened on August 15, 2020 when California found itself without enough electricity to power air conditioners. This bill is opposed by California’s utilities.

Both bills will be voted on Wednesday, April 21, 2021 in the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee hearing that begins at 1:30. Live broadcast available.

IOUs Pressure CPUC to Make Rooftop 2x More Expensive, Slash Value of Solar Exports by 77%

Californians point to blackouts, wildfires and rate increases as reason to expand access to solar, not penalize it

CALIFORNIA – California’s three investor-owned utilities, including the largest utility in the country, PG&E, have joined together to pressure a regulatory agency set up to protect consumers from dangerous, expensive, and unreliable energy into making consumer solar two times more expensive than it is today, while slashing the value of solar electricity sent back to the grid on hot summer days by 77%. The utilities’ proposal would put solar out of reach for most low- and middle-income consumers just when recent studies show they make up nearly 50% of today’s market.  

“California ratepayers have suffered deadly wildfires, repeated blackouts, and rising energy bills and now the utilities want the government to penalize them for adding solar to their roof all in the name of lowering energy bills. Californians simply aren’t buying it.” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, CALSSA Executive Director referring to a public opinion poll put out by her association yesterday. 

Under fire by the utilities is a program called net energy metering, or NEM, which allows consumers who have solar on their apartment building or school to generate energy onsite and send surplus electrons back to the grid in exchange for a simple bill credit. Utilities have long opposed net metering because it reduces the need to build more poles and wires to transport electrons from distant power plants, which in turn cuts into utility profits. Since 201, California’s investor-owned utilities charged ratepayers more than $20 billion in transmission line projects.

“Rooftop solar cuts down on the need to build expensive transmission lines which is why the utilities are always after us,” said Del Chiaro. “Solar roofs save everyone money, not to mention build a more resilient grid, but they cut into utility profits. Utilities are trying to blame their huge structural shortcomings on consumers and small businesses.” 

Utility proposals for modifying net metering program would make the following changes: 

• The highest solar fees in America, charging a typical residential consumer an unavoidable fee of $78 per month on average just to have solar on their roof.[1]  

• Non-residential customers would also be hit with huge fees. A typical school, for example, wanting to invest in solar would be charged an unavoidable $950 monthly fee in PG&E territory, $1,100 in Southern California Edison territory, and $3,400 per month in the San Diego area.[2]

• Reduces the credit consumers receive for surplus solar electricity sent back to the grid on hot summer days by 77%. This means that when a solar user shares electricity with their neighbor, the utility would charge the neighbor 25 cents while giving the solar user 5.7 cents in bill credits.   

• In addition to the new fees and cuts, the IOU proposal would also require monthly true ups, preventing consumers from carrying forward their unused credits from month to month. 

Roughly one in ten California ratepayers have solar, totaling more than a million consumers, including 150,000 CARE customers, and helping spur a burgeoning solar industry that supports thousands of small businesses and over 70,000 jobs. The California Energy Commission estimates California will need five times as much solar to meet its clean energy goals and help fight climate change. CALSSA contends that the utility proposals would stall out one of the bright spots in the California economy as small businesses and consumers struggle to recover from Covid-19. 

CALSSA is part of a growing coalition of consumer, environmental, and community groups standing up for consumer choice and local solar energy. The group has a website www.SaveCaliforniaSolar.org. Yesterday, CALSSA and the Solar Rights Alliance put out a public opinion poll showing utility company efforts to roll back net metering are highly unpopular among California voters. Instead, the poll showed strong support for net metering across parties, and a bipartisan desire for California leaders to do more to encourage the growth of rooftop solar power. Over 11,000 people have signed a petition to Governor Gavin Newsom and the CPUC to urge them to protect consumer solar. 

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[1] $56 per month in SCE; $86 per month for PG&E; and $91 per month for SDG&E for a typical 6 kilowatt system. 

[2] Based on a 250 kilowatt system

CALSSA Fights for Small Businesses, Consumer Choice in State Decision on Rooftop Solar Program

Solar industry group calls for continuation of net metering with gradual evolutionary changes that support continued growth of rooftop solar, grow energy storage, and save hundreds of small businesses, thousands of jobs

CALIFORNIA – California’s oldest and largest clean energy business group, the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA), is going up against the state’s three investor-owned utilities over the future of California’s rooftop solar market. The battle is unfolding at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in a regulatory decision that will make or break California’s continued leadership in encouraging consumer solar at homes, apartments, schools and farms. Proposals for changes to net energy metering (NEM) were submitted today.  

“California is a solar state, but the utilities want to own the sun and keep it out of the hands of everyday people,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, CALSSA Executive Director. “Their need to increase profits cuts against the consumer’s right to choose where and how to generate clean, reliable energy where we live, work, and play.” 

CALSSA’s proposal for how the state’s foundational net metering program should evolve over the next ten years seeks to put rooftop solar in the hands of millions more consumers, including an increasing number of low-income ratepayers, while building a million solar-charged batteries. The industry association, which took on the utilities in 2016 during the last regulatory challenge to NEM, is urging the commission to prioritize consumer choice, energy reliability, grid costs, and the protection of small businesses which make up more than two-thirds of California’s solar market. 

“California’s solar industry is dominated by small businesses that work to bring clean, reliable and affordable energy to middle- and working-class consumers from Clovis to Chula Vista,” said Del Chiaro. “Our 600-member strong organization is made up of hundreds of women-owned, minority-owned, employee-owned, and family-owned businesses that make up the backbone of California’s solar industry. 

The state’s investor-owned utilities, in contrast, are some of the largest shareholder corporations in the state posting $20 billion in profits since 2012. The largest source of profits are utility investments in high-voltage transmission lines that carry electrons from power plants located hundreds of miles away from where people use energy. In a recent En Banc at the CPUC, it was revealed that the utilities have charged ratepayers $20 billion in transmission projects, nearly half of which were “self-approved” and that this year’s $4 billion transmission bill to ratepayers is a 38% increase over 2016.   

“Rooftop solar helps cut down on the need to build these expensive transmission lines which is why the utilities are always after us,” said Del Chiaro. “Solar roofs save everyone money by reducing the need to pave over the desert with power plants and build the wires to carry those electrons to our homes and businesses. Those savings work well for ratepayers but cut against utility profit.” 

CALSSA is part of a growing coalition of consumer, environmental, and community groups standing up for consumer choice and local solar energy. The group has a website www.SaveCaliforniaSolar.org. Earlier, today CALSSA and the Solar Rights Alliance put out a public opinion poll showing utility company efforts to roll back net metering are highly unpopular among California voters. Instead, the poll showed strong support for net metering across parties, and a bipartisan desire for California leaders to do more to encourage the growth of rooftop solar power. 

California is the nucleus for DERs and DER-related policies.  It has grown not only world-class DER companies and global leaders that continue to be policy ambassadors to states across the country, and countries around the world, but also hundreds of small and mid-sized “Main Street” solar and solar-related businesses.  The modifications to NEM adopted in this proceeding will affect these smaller companies the most, as well as the 74,000 Californians currently working in the solar industry.

“The solar industry is made up of small businesses who work hard to bring reliable, affordable energy to everyday consumers. The utilities’ anti-NEM proposals will kill our businesses and the quality jobs we create.” 

– Jose Luis Contreras, Solare Energy, San Diego, CA

“Rooftop solar delivers clean, reliable power for millions of people but the utilities want to slow us down, just as California’s solar energy industry is taking off.” 

- Deep Patel, Gigawatt Inc., Orange County, CA

“As an employee-owned solar business coming out of Covid-19, we are just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and big utility companies want to recover their monopolistic hold on energy production. Net energy metering is absolutely crucial to growing local jobs.” 

– Vincent Battaglia, Renova Energy, Palm Desert, CA

“My county has the highest poverty rate in the state. For my customers, the ability to lower their monthly electric bills through a NEM credit provides crucial help to working families.

– Jack Ramsey, Altsys Solar Inc., Tulare, CA

“The solar industry has a long tail of small businesses focused on empowering their customers and communities to create their own clean energy. When NEM policies have been reduced or eliminated the effects on the solar industry, and its customers, have been swift and negative.”

- Micah Breeden, Allterra Solar, Santa Cruz, CA 

“I can’t compete with PG&E’s PR machine. I get up every morning and run the best solar company I can. I just hope our politicians see through the utility smokescreen and pay attention to those of us on the ground building solar energy for real people.” 

– Sheryl Lane, Earth Electric, Campbell, CA

“It’s inconceivable that we are considering another economic shift from homeowners and small businesses to a twice bankrupt and criminal utility who already has a guaranteed 10% rate of return — and who just raised electric rates by 11% this year.” 

– Barry Cinnamon, Cinnamon Energy Solutions, Campbell, CA

"Utilities claim rooftop solar takes money from those least able to pay and should be stopped. Utilities should work with, not against, the hundreds of solar businesses across California to get solar energy and batteries to more people. That will create more local jobs and build more wealth and resiliency in our communities." 

– Jeanine Cotter, Luminalt Energy, San Francisco, CA

“We build rooftop solar and storage systems for the people of Sonoma County hit hard by PG&E’s wildfires and high rates. Both of  my sons have also started their own local solar company. PG&E’s proposal to gut net metering will hurt my whole family and is just wrong.” 

– Jeff Mathias, Synergy Solar & Electrical Systems, Sebastopol, CA

“Amidst blackouts and wildfires, PG&E has some nerve to propose that California turn the lights out on rooftop solar, destroying tens of thousands of clean energy jobs.”

– Ed Murray, Aztec Solar, Rancho Cordova, CA

New Poll Shows Utility Efforts to Roll Back Net Metering Are Very Unpopular with California Voters

Voters support net metering and want to encourage more rooftop solar power in California; oppose utility efforts to roll back net metering policy

A new poll released today by the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) and the Solar Rights Alliance shows utility company efforts to roll back net metering are highly unpopular among California voters. Instead, the poll showed strong support for net metering across parties, and a bipartisan desire for California leaders to do more to encourage the growth of rooftop solar power.

The poll was conducted as the California Public Utilities Commission prepares to reconsider the credit rooftop solar consumers receive for the excess energy they produce, among other changes. Net metering helps make solar more affordable for consumers and is a reason why 50 percent of the rooftop solar market is currently in working class and middle class neighborhoods. 

A super-majority of 80 percent of voters across parties support net metering when provided a neutral statement on the program. 71 percent of voters want to see California do more to encourage and expand rooftop solar across the state, and another 14 percent want the state to at least maintain its current commitment.

“California is a solar state thanks to overwhelming support from voters,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, Executive Director, CALSSA. “Voters want California to actively expand and encourage rooftop solar, not allow utilities to undermine consumer choice.”

Not surprisingly, 64 percent of voters oppose utility proposals to reduce the credit that people who have rooftop solar receive from their local utility for any extra electricity that their rooftop solar generates and feeds back to the grid, with just 25 percent supporting the utility effort.

Voters are not buying an ongoing campaign by utility special interests to blame solar users for energy rate hikes. That reason is supported by just 13 percent of voters and the lowest of all options provided including the costs of building new electric transmission lines (21 percent), grid maintenance (25 percent), managing wildfire danger (38 percent), and utility companies seeking to maintain or boost their profits (56 percent).

“Half of California’s rooftop solar is found in working and middle-class neighborhoods,” said Dave Rosenfeld, Executive Director, Solar Rights Alliance. “Net metering is helping bring costs down and making it possible for more families to access the savings, resilience and other benefits of solar power while also moving California closer to our clean energy goals. Voters of all backgrounds want to continue that progress. They know the utilities do not have their best interests in mind.”

When provided the perspectives of rooftop solar advocates versus utility interests, nearly three in four voters sided with solar:

The poll was conducted by Benenson Strategy Group and included 811 interviews with likely 2022 voters in California from February 22-26, 2021. Interviews were conducted using SMS text to web services, on landline phones, and from online web panels. The sample was weighted to ensure it was proportionally representative of registered voters in the district. The margin of error is ±3.46% at the 95% confidence level and is higher among subgroups and questions that were split or not asked of all.

A summary memo of the poll is available here. To speak with the pollsters or representatives from the California Solar & Storage Association and the Solar Rights Alliance please contact Jacob Hay at 310-855-2640 or jhay@wearerally.com.

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The California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) has advanced the common interest of the solar and storage industry for over 40 years, making California the most robust market in the U.S. The association is the state’s largest clean energy business group with over 600 member companies, primarily small businesses based in communities throughout the state, that manufacture, design, install, finance and provide other resources to the growing local solar and storage market in California. Learn more at www.calssa.org

Solar Rights Alliance is the nonprofit association of California solar users. We believe everyone has the right to make energy from the sun without unreasonable interference by the utilities. We keep track of what politicians, regulators and utilities are up to, and alert the public when there is a threat to rooftop solar, or an opportunity to help more Californians access rooftop solar. Learn more at www.solarrights.org

Benenson Strategy Group (BSG) is a premier consulting and strategic research firm that advises political leaders, global corporations and institutions in the most dynamic, competitive scenarios. We use innovative techniques that probe deeply on core beliefs, attitudes, and emotions and provide actionable recommendations for our clients to deliver a message that breaks through the clutter and reaches its intended audience. For more information, please visit www.bsgco.com

CALSSA’s 2nd Annual Virtual Product Expo Series Returns the Week of March 22!

The California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) is bringing back its popular, no-nonsense approach to online expos. Product Expo Week, which is free to attend, will be held each day from 1 to 2:30 pacific time, over one week – March 22-26. The week features a series of daily hour and a half high-quality virtual events designed to quickly bring you up to speed on the latest and most exciting solar & storage product offerings from start-ups to established brands.

Large in person events in 2021 remain a big question mark. With this series, solar and storage workers can ensure their businesses are in the know on the latest technologies and offerings all without spending a penny or traveling across the country.

CALSSA’s Product Expo Series mimics the conversations you’d have on the trade show floor without leaving your desk. The series is designed to give attendees exposure to each company’s latest and greatest in a short period of time while keeping the experience simple, no-nonsense, free and accessible.

“CALSSA’s Product Expo Series makes the case for skipping trade shows. It is a model to inspire all convention organizers who are looking to evolve. I was wowed by how tightly they ran those sessions. The effectiveness of the process came from how well prepared the interviewers and presenters were, and the unapologetic pace they kept... like network television. It was a productive, gimmick-free, informative series.” Said Philippe Hartley, Managing Director at Clean Financing LLC, after attending last year’s expo.

Each day will feature a mix of eight different companies from varying market segments for a rapid response Q+A with industry experts Jennifer Alfsen of Mayfield Renewables and Jeff Spies of Planet Plan Sets. Following the event, attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions in private chat rooms for each company. The series is free for everyone. You can find out more information on their website: calssa.org/product-expo-series

The entire series is sponsored by CED Greentech and Capital One and features speakers from forty companies in a wide variety of market segment.

The current line-up and schedule is below. Learn more here. 

SESSION 1: Mon, March 22 

• JinkoSolar

• LG Electronics

• IronRidge

• Invinity Energy Systems

• Mosaic

• QuickBOLT

• Koben Systems Inc.

• Enphase Energy

 SESSION 2: Tues, March 23 

• Span

• LG Energy Solution

• Pegasus Solar

• Fimer

• PowerTree

• Energy Toolbase

• SMA America

• Socomec

 SESSION 3: Wed, March 24 

• EagleView

• Electriq Power

• Aurora Solar

• Lumin

• Roof Tech Inc.

• Jacana Warranty

• Ivy Energy

• LONGI Solar

 SESSION 4: Thurs, March 25 

• Blue Planet Energy

• Fortress Power

• Discover Battery

• SunModo

• Panasonic

• Mission Solar Energy

• Schneider Electric

• Sonnen Inc.

 SESSION 5: Fri, March 26 

• SimpliPhi Power

• Yotta Energy

• Solaria

• RST Cleantech USA

• PACEFunding

• SolarEdge

• Ginlong Technologies

• Tamarack Solar Products

CALSSA Welcomes New Board Members

Three Outstanding Individuals To Help Lead California’s Largest Clean Energy Business Group

The California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA), California’s oldest and largest clean energy business group, announces the addition of three industry leaders to serve on its board of directors.

The three new board members are: 

• Samuel Adeyemo, co-founder and COO of Aurora Solar, a leading solar design and sales software provider.

• Martin Herzfeld, Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) Certified Master Trainer for Photovoltaics (PV), California Licensed Solar (C46) and Electrical Contractor (C10), Instrumentation (C7), OSHA-Authorized Construction Safety Trainer, and Third-Party Technical Inspector with 15 years of industry experience. 

• Adam Gerza, VP of Business Development at Energy Toolbase, an industry leading software platform.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome these three outstanding industry leaders to our board,” said CALSSA Executive Director Bernadette Del Chiaro. “We will benefit tremendously from their insights and expertise as we continue our work to strengthen and grow the California local solar and storage market.”

Mr. Adeyemo, Mr. Hertzfeld, and Mr. Gerza join a board of fifteen led by Board President Ed Murray of Aztec Solar, along with Vice President Jeanine Cotter of Luminalt, Secretary Benjamin Airth of the Center for Sustainable Energy, and Treasurer Walker Wright of Sunrun. 

Other CALSSA board members are: 

• Yann Brandt, SolarWakeUp

• Rick Reed, SunEarth

• Rich Borba, JKB Energy

• Jeff Spies, Planet Plan Sets

• Howard Wenger, Solaria

• Gary Gerber, Sun Light & Power

• Erica Dahl, Vivint (formerly)

• Catherine Von Burg, SimpliPhi 
   

“The educational, policy and advocacy work that CALSSA does is critical and far-reaching,” said Samuel Adeyemo of Aurora Solar. “I am excited to help CALSSA make solar and storage ubiquitous in California.”

“I'm looking forward to advancing the solar and energy storage industry together, educating policy makers together, and making wise decisions together for the environment to accomplish CALSSA’s mission,” stated Martin Herzfeld.

“I’m honored to re-join the CALSSA Board and to continue fighting for policies that create a strong and growing distributed generation solar + storage market in California,” said Adam Gerza of Energy Toolbase.

CALSSA thanks all its board members, past and present, and it’s nearly 600 business members who help make the association one of the strongest and most effective organizations building a clean energy future in California.

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About CALSSA

The California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) has advanced the common interest of the solar and storage industry for over 40 years, making California the most robust market in the U.S. The association is the state’s largest clean energy business group with over 600 member companies representing an array of businesses that manufacture, design, install, finance and provide other resources to the growing local solar and storage market in California.

New Study Documents Superior Performance of Solar Water Heating

Research Shows Solar Thermal Is Essential for Electrification of Water Heating

Sacramento—A new study from Flagstaff Research commissioned by the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA) finds that solar water heating with electric backup can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% compared to traditional gas tank water heaters. This surpasses the performance of heat pump water heaters, which reduce emissions by 81% on average across California climate zones.

For multifamily properties, solar water heating produces more than twice as much bill savings as heat pumps. For residential systems, solar water heating systems reduce monthly bills while heat pumps increase them.  

“Solar water heating is a proven technology that fits perfectly with California’s future of all-electric housing and carbon-free energy,” said CALSSA Policy Director Brad Heavner.

California policy makers are intent on electrification of water heating. CALSSA produced this research to demonstrate that solar water heating needs to be part of that effort. In California to date, the majority of solar water heaters installed have used gas backup heaters, but solar water heaters are also very effective when used with electric backup heaters. Solar water heating can be used both for fuel switching from gas to electric and to significantly increase the efficiency of existing water heating.

State agencies are implementing two new programs for water heating electrification. The Building Initiative for Low Emissions Development (BUILD) program targets new construction and will be run by the California Energy Commission (CEC). The Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating (TECH) program will address retrofits and will by run by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). In addition, CEC aims to use Title 24 building standards to encourage the construction of all electric housing. Because heat pumps increase energy costs for homeowners, solar water heating is often a better option.

Flagstaff Research evaluated thirteen water heating technology configurations for cost and performance using detailed simulation models for customer behavior and real world conditions in every region of the state.

Heat pumps are only efficient if they can heat water slowly. Because customers expect hot water to be recharged quickly, heat pumps make heavy use of electric resistance elements. This results in significant electricity usage during TOU peak periods, which increases costs and emissions. Solar water heating systems, in contrast, can almost entirely avoid reliance on electricity during peak periods.

“Heating water is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in buildings, and solar water heating can eliminate most of those emissions without adding to electricity consumption during hours when the electric grid is already strained,” said Flagstaff Research Principal Josh Plaisted.

CALSSA makes the following recommendations.

• CEC and CPUC should proceed quickly to implement programs for water heating electrification. Those programs should have a strong focus on solar water heating.

• CEC should incorporate the new research to ensure that appropriate credit under Title 24 building standards is given to homebuilders that install solar water heating.