Renewable Incentives In California

There are three main state-wide incentive programs. To be eligible for any of these you must be a customer of either PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, or BVE. This is because the customers of these invester owned utility companies are the ones providing funding for the programs.

In addition, all systems approved for incentives through these programs must be tied to the energy grid.



CSI- (California Solar Initiative) here.

This program from the California Public Utilities Commission and deals with retrofitting Solar PV systems on homes government and businesses.

Two types of incentive structures:

EPBI- (Estimated performance based incentive) A one time payout after completion and grid interconnection. Rudimentarily, the payment comes to a dollar amount times the number of peak watts the system generates.

To estimate the CSI EPBI incentive amount in your area, go here: csi-trigger.com


PBI- Performance based incentives are based on what the system generates in operation.





NSHP- (New Solar Homes Partnership) here.

This program is specifically for residential homes in current construction. The home must meet energy efficiency standards 15% better than the current CA Title 24 requirements. The incentive is EPBI and calculated through the NSHP Calculator.



ERP- (Emerging Renewable Program) here.

This program is only for customers interested in wind or fuel cell renewable systems. The program is administered by the California Energy Commission. The incentive is an EPBI calculated on initial system peak watt rating and adjusted by the inverter specifications.



For more detailed information on these programs. See my other entries.