LA RENEWS ROOFTOP SUN PUSH

New proposal seeks to encourage solar panels on LA rooftops, parking lots
Molly Peterson, January 9, 2012 (KPCC/NPR)

"Ambitious goals Los Angeles city officials have set for solar energy remain out of reach. Changes in leadership at the L.A. Department of Water and Power have slowed renewable energy policies. So has the domestic economy. Now the DWP is floating a new proposal designed to encourage solar farms on large rooftops and parking lots…Germany started its own program to encourage solar farms on large buildings 21 years ago; in English, the German policy of buying power from large rooftops translates as ‘feed-in tariff’… California law now requires that utilities do something like that…

"DWP plans to buy solar energy generated on big buildings under long-term fixed-rate contracts. These projects would be at least five times bigger than most residential solar systems, and they’re different from home systems, where the electric meter spins forward and back…[F]eed-in tariff contracts offer more predictability as DWP tallies its energy resources. Local businesses recognize the value too…"

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"…[M]illions of dollars in tax revenue could juice L.A.'s coffers if large local solar projects take off…[but] this kind of system creates a new market for power. That’s tricky…

"…How much to pay for solar energy is only one the matter DWP’s cautious about…It’ll take different engineering to deliver electricity in the other direction on transmission lines…A study…found that a full 600 megawatt feed-in tariff program would create up to 18,000 jobs…"