Solar innovation and progress toward renewable energy sources is nothing new for California, but this week, California made big news by breaking another record. Not only has California been a leader in the nation for solar powered projects, with 246,266 projects started to date under the California Solar Initiative, but on April 15th our state broke another record. The latest record is 6,000 megawatts of solar power flowing into the state’s grid. That only accounts for the solar power that is to be used by utilities, so the homes and business that have solar power aren’t accounted for in that figure. The California Solar Initiative counts an additional 2,374 megawatts from residential and commercial rooftops. So, with the 6,000 on the state’s grid and at least 2,374 megawatts off the grid, some reports estimate California could have as much as 9,000 megawatts of solar electricity flowing.
The figures for the state’s power grid are reported by CalSO (California Independent System Operator),which manages most of California’s power grid. This latest figure breaks a record fourfold that was reported in March 2013, when California’s grid recorded 1,500 megawatts of solar power.That’s quite a bit of progress in two years!
Another initiative in the news will help bring California’s megawatts up even more. New construction homes in Palo Alto may soon be required to dedicate roof space to solar panels. The new law will likely be adopted by the city council later this month, according to Palo Alto Online. This proposed new law is part of new environmental building code updates the city council will be discussing on April 20.
To learn more about how California is leading the way in solar, and to obtain more California solar statistics, visit https://www.californiasolarstatistics.ca.gov