Thursday, July 16, 2009

VACAVILLE RECONGIZED AT CITY SOLAR AWARDS CEREMONIES

VACAVILLE RECONGIZED AT CITY SOLAR AWARDS CEREMONIES
Ranked second in total watts, fourth in watts per capita by Norcal Solar

The City of Vacaville was recognized by the Northern California Energy Association at the City Solar Awards during the Intersolar North America Convention held Wednesday, July 15 in San Francisco.

Vacaville was ranked second among medium-sized cities (between 25,000 and 100,000 in population) for total watts in 2008, with a total of 1.56 million watts of electricity being produced by solar panels in our community. Mountain View was ranked first, with 1.9 million watts, while Palo Alto was third with 1.4 million watts.

Vacaville was ranked fourth in watts per capita in 2008 with 16.09 watts per capita. Mountain View was first with 26.92 watts per capita; Palo Alto was second with 23.03 watts per capita, while Napa was third with 16.68 watts per capita.

The rankings were based on the Bay Area Solar Installation Report, compiled and issued by Norcal Solar. The report uses publicly available solar incentive data to describe the number and amount of grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) installations from the start of the California Solar Initiative (CSI) through December 31, 2008 in 10 Bay Area counties and 163 cities and communities. The CSI is a 10-year $2.2 billion incentive program with the goal of installing 1,940 megawatts of solar power on the equivalent of one million rooftops.

In comparing communities equitably, Norcal Solar defined the parameters for cities based on population using the guidelines of the League of California Cities.
The entire report can be found at Norcal Solar’s website, www.norcalsolar.org. For more information, contact Norcal Solar Board President Claudia Wentworth at (510) 705-8813.