In the history of the United States, California has always held a special place in our imaginations. It’s been seen as a land of opportunity, whether it was the Gold Rush of 1848, the draw of Hollywood or, more recently, the center of technological innovation and advancement in Silicon Valley.

So, too, has it been the center of the U.S. solar industry for the past couple of decades. The state government has crafted legislation carefully to support the development of distributed generation and recently has signaled it intends to open up the market to more community solar projects. We’ve been working in California for quite a while (see our work with the Lake Elsinore Unified School District and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Long Beach Schools, for examples) and have been thrilled to see recent legislative actions that will make it even easier to do business in the state, particularly in the community solar market.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports that 41 states and the District of Columbia have at least one community solar project online. Collectively, that’s 5.6 GW installed through 2022, with much more in the pipeline. Over the next five years, SEIA says the market will more than double in size, adding at least 6 GW of total community solar capacity.

Standard Solar has been an early proponent of community solar and building projects in 22 states. but California has always been a problematic community solar market because the legislative and regulatory framework hadn’t caught up to the rest of the country. Recent developments in California, however, have our eyes turning toward the West Coast.

Late in 2022, California passed Assembly Bill 2316, which mandates that utilities focus on bringing community solar to low-income communities. As we have always been a supporter of democratizing solar as much as possible, we were excited by this legislation. Add to it the state’s aggressive goal to become carbon neutral by 2045 (which is going to require more distributed generation than ever), and we are more excited than ever to deepen our ties to the state’s solar industry.

 

Standard Solar is looking for development partners across the state. If you’re in California, interested in developing a distributed generation project and looking for a partner, Standard Solar is here to help. We have a co-development agreement where the developer puts in the sweat equity to the project while Standard Solar funds interconnection costs and other development costs. We understand the importance of working with partners who have the local knowledge and experience to make a project a success.

Feel free to contact me if you need an exceptional development partner in California—I’d love to show you what we can do for you.