2009 Annual Program Assessment

The California Public Utilities Commission's California Solar Initiative team issued its Annual Program Assessment to the Legislature on June 30, 2009. Highlights of the report include:  

• California has over 500 MW of solar “PV” connected to the electric grid at customer sites; This is equivalent to one large power plant. With recent rapid growth, California now has over 515 MW of cumulative installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity at nearly 50,000 sites; 226 MW of this was installed in the past 2 ½ years under the California Solar Initiative.
• The annual rate for new installed solar capacity in California nearly doubled in 2008 over 2007 (from 81 MW per year to 156 MW per year), a marked increase from the 30-40 percent annual growth rate of prior years.
• Despite the challenging economic situation, installation data suggests that the California Solar Initiative could install at least the same amount of megawatts in 2009 as 2008, with 78 MW already installed through May 2009.
• The program continues to see strong demand, with May 2009 the highest month on record for new solar applications. The California Solar Initiative has over 22,000 solar applications, including both pending and installed systems, that will account for an estimated 373 MW of new solar capacity.
• After 21/2 years, the California Solar Initiative has installed 13 percent of the total 10-year program goal, and it has another 8 percent in applications pending installation.

Read our press release.