Does LADWP hate solar?

May I be blunt?  We are so darned lucky to live in California.  The weather’s great, don’t get me started about culture, food, and scenery, and we have sun.  Well, maybe not right now . . . it’s sort of cloudy, and June Gloom is the season right now.  But as I was planting my garden in April, friends in Ottawa, Baltimore, and Boston were still kvetching about the cold.

    I went to a Green Tech conference over the weekend at UCLA, and I was struck by the comments from many in the solar community.  And they brought up something I really hadn’t thought of. You don’t see solar panels in LA.  Uh, excuse me?

Pasadena is a solar hub.  Orange County and San Diego have their share of solar firms.  But trying to find solar panels in LA is like finding . . . uh .  .  . snow.

  So what gives?  Apparently, the esteemed Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has a regulation that states that in order to have solar panels on your roof, there needs to be four feet of clearance all around your roof.  So, if you live in a typical California sized home . . . there’s room for, oh, 1 or 2 panels, enough to maybe run your electric toothbrush.  Okay, that’s exaggerating, but you get the point.  Add the fact that the LADWP makes it very difficult for Third Party solar finance companies (often referred to as PPAs), and solar installers in general, and we’re left scratching our heads.

  And when the LADWP shows some interest in solar, it’s completely self serving.  It attempted to push Measure B last month . . . which narrowly lost because quite honestly, residents didn’t trust LADWP to run the program.

  So, if you’re dreaming about getting off of fossil based fuels to power your home, and perhaps contribute to the grid, you’ll need to wait a while . . .