Solar power growth bright in Central Valley

 OAKLAND

 July 30, 2013 10:56am 

•  Growth is inland and in median-income areas

•  “More homeowners of all incomes have been able to power their homes with solar”

Five of California’s top 25 cities for installations of residential solar power are in the Central Valley, according to figures compiled by Sunible, a company started by solar market data resource PV Solar Report.

It puts Bakersfield second only to San Diego. Fresno ranks third in the state, while Clovis is seventh, Chico is 15th and Visalia is 20th on the list.

In all, 80 percent of California’s top 25 solar cities are inland communities and not the wealthiest areas of the state but rather median-income communities like Fresno, Clovis, El Cajon and Chico. For example according to the most recent census data, Fresno has an average median annual income of just over $41,000, and it ranks third on Sunible’s list.

Growth in residential solar is happening while state incentives for solar have steadily declined to almost zero since 2008, according to a recent update on the California Solar Initiative.

A key driver of this inland growth is third-party-owned (TPO) solar, says Sunible’s report.

Also called solar power service, TPO solar means a provider like Sunrun or Solar City (which recently opened a major installation center in Stockton, employing 85 people) owns, maintains and insures solar panels on a homeowner's roof.

Homeowners generally pay little to no money upfront for the panels, avoid the responsibilities of ownership, and save money on electricity bills.

In the top cities that have showed the most growth since 2008, third-party-owned solar has increased substantially. For example, the average percentage increase in third-party ownership across these cities is more than 104 percent from Q1 2012 to Q1 2013, says Sunible’s report. Chico experienced a 153% increase in TPO solar installations in that period.

“The increase of third-party-owned solar in California’s top cities today verses 2008 shows how crucial that model has been to spreading solar on rooftops,” says Stephen Torres, founder and CEO of Sunible. “It's really exciting to see that in the last five years, more homeowners of all incomes have been able to power their homes with solar.”

California is the number-one state for home solar installations, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association, says Sunible, with residential installations up 39 percent in Q1 2013 over Q4 2012. Additionally, third-party-owned systems now account for over half of all new residential installations in most major residential markets across the nation, including California, Arizona, Colorado and Massachusetts.

A cornerstone policy for this growth and continued solar expansion is net metering, which gives rooftop solar customers full retail credit for the energy they put back on the grid.

The other Top 25 solar cities are:

1) San Diego

4) Los Angeles

5) San Jose

6) Murrieta

8) Corona

9) Escondido

10) Temecula

11) Palm Springs

12) El Cajon

13) Santa Clarita

14) Apple Valley

16) Palmdale

17) Rancho Mirage

18) Northridge

19) Palm Desert

21) Ramona

22) Pleasanton

23) Lancaster

24) Riverside

25) Rancho Cucamonga