California’s Workable Solution to Funding Solar?

Two California cities have come up with an innovative method that could incentivize the much needed move towards the use of solar panels. The solar loan law, sponsored by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), will ‘allow’ cities and counties to make low-interest loans to homeowners and businesses to install solar panels, high-efficiency air conditioners and other improvements to save energy.

The best part of the package is that homeowners can pay back the loans as part of their property taxes. If they move, the improvements and loan balance are transferred to the next owner.

This plan reduces the upfront costs associated with solar panel installation and reduces the risk that the investment will be lost when people sell their homes.

Three thoughts come immediately to mind.

One-(on the positive side) the installation of solar panels will increase the resale value of homes, a much needed incentive for this crippled housing marketing, although it still won’t guarantee the homes sale.
Two-(on the potentially negative side) the wording of this bill is suspicious in that it uses the word ‘allow’. There are no guarantees that cities will actually loan money to property owners and there is no incentive for them to do so.
Third-(on the negative side) rebates of the cost of the systems are running about 25% and are declining due to several factors, one being homeowners are simply not taking advantages of them. So, unless the home owner is motivated by the possibility of reselling excess energy back to the power company, I don’t see this bill being of much use to anyone.

Palm Desert, a city with an aging population and high air-conditioning costs, already has a list of interested customers and has created the Palm Desert Energy Independence Program to offer the loans, setting a goal of reducing energy consumption by 30% over five years.

Berkeley has decided to support the loan program and has created “Berkeley FIRST”, but it is still in the planning stages.

Everyone is familiar with solar cells, they have been used for years, mainly on calculators, emergency road signs, parking lot lights, and even accent lights around your home. But it will probably take a major increase in the cost of power production similar to what is happening at the gas pump before people will get serious about adopting this cleaner power source.

Last year, Colorado State University discovered a method of manufacturing low-cost high-efficiency solar panels that will be ready for mass production by the end of 2008. Perhaps this will be the push needed to jump start the “solar revolution”.