My parents paid a frightening $52,000 dollars for a moderately sized solar power system back in 2002. The price tag would have made the system a fantasy had it not been for the now obsolete Emerging Renewables Program (ERP). It was the first government rebate for solar power in California, its success paved the way for the far more aggressive California Solar Initiative (CSI).
The California Solar Initiative is a 2.3 billion dollar program allocated through utility companies such as Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). The unprecedented scope of the program played a huge role in helping bring down the prohibitive price tag. Even with the rebates, I have always been in awe that the first generation of solar installers managed to sell systems that cost more than the average Americans yearly salary. Somehow those pioneers managed it and paved the way for much luckier solar geeks such as myself.
That luck came in the form of a global supply glut of solar panels and a cliff-like drop in solar panel prices. By extension, the price of a system like the one my parents installed has decreased dramatically. With enough bids you can find an installer who will put up the same size system as my parents for less than $15,000. The drop in prices has resulted in CSI funding being consumed faster than expected. Last February, the California Solar Initiative ran out of money for residential solar systems in PG&E territory. Not to say the rebates are entirely gone, Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric both have at least a year remaining before they run out like PG&E has.
Very few solar installers and officials are pushing to renew the programs funding. With California’s fiscal woes what they are, it is unlikely any lobbying would bear fruit anyway. In the decade since my parents installed solar the solar industry has reached a point where a realistic road map for a subsidy free era can be drawn. The most successful solar rebate in our countries history has done its job and while it may end with a whimper its legacy will be felt in a maturing solar industry.
Daniel Parrella
www.SpearheadSolar.com
http://SpearheadSolar.com/blog/
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