By Jessica Lillian | Solar Industry
California’s solar market – the U.S.’ largest – now stands at the edge of a new era. Although the California Solar Initiative (CSI) – the state’s primary incentive program for customer-sited solar generation – has all but wound down, industry advocates are optimistic that other drivers, including the state’s aggressive renewable portfolio standard (RPS), will help keep the market moving forward.
The end of the $2.2 billion CSI program “marks a new phase of solar market maturity, with low- and middle-income households now driving solar energy’s growth in California,” wrote advocacy group Vote Solar in a recent press release.
With nearly all rebate money now exhausted, the CSI has grown the solar market in California by leaps and bounds. According to Vote Solar, Californians have installed more than 140,000 solar projects – totaling nearly 1.5 GW – to date.
Equally importantly, the average pre-incentive price for a CSI-assisted solar array has dropped from $9.48/W at its most expensive point to $6.10/W today – a reduction of more than 35%.
If you’d like to discuss energy issues, contact Court Rich, Co-Chair of Rose Law Group’s Renewable Energy Department at crich@roselawgroup.com
