California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who long has put alternative energy as one of his top priorities, signed into law Monday a program that would make the state one of the world’s largest generators of solar energy.
The bill aims to generate 3,000 megawatts of power and install 1 million rooftop solar panels on homes, businesses, public buildings, and farms by 2018. The production would be equal to the output from five power plants.
The goal also is to cut down greenhouse gas emissions by three million tons. The governor compares the reduction to taking 1 million cars off the road.
“When I ran for governor, I vowed to make the environment the centerpiece of my administration and turn back the clock on pollution,” Gov. Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
Under the new law, home builders will have to offer solar power as an option to buyers, starting in 2011. Developers do get tax credit in return. People who put solar panels on their homes and businesses also will be allowed to sell excess power back to their power companies.
Those who generate their own solar energy already have been able to sell unused electricity back to the grid. But the limit for the sell-back is capped at 0.5 percent of what’s generated. The new law will raise it to 2.5 percent.
Municipal utilities also will be required to set up solar energy plans. In the past, only investor-owned utilities had to do so.
The program will be funded by the $2.9 billion approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in January (see California Solar Gets $42.9B+).
The program is part of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Million Solar Roofs initiative. He tried to get the state legislature to pass a sweeping incentive program to encourage solar energy use but failed last year (see California Solar Bill Fails).
The state legislature came around this time. The Senate voted for the bill, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Los Angeles), last week, clearing the way for Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign it into law at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday.
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