Thursday, November 7, 2013

Nonprofit Gets $1.3M To Reduce Solar Rooftop Costs

The California Center for Sustanable Energy (CCSE) said Wednesday that it has received $1.3 million in an award from the Department of Energy, as part of the DOE's latest SunShot Initiative Rooftop Solar Challenge II. According to the CCSE, which is based in San Diego, the $1.3 million will go towards a project which aims to streamline and standardize solar energy installations for residential and small commercial customers in California. The CCSE said it is particularly aiming at inconsistencies among different cities, counties, and other jurisdictions around project planning, permitting, and utility interconnection of those solar power systems. CCSE said that up to 60 percent of total installed costs of rooftop PV systems in California come from soft costs like permitting, grid connection, installation, design and maintenance--rather than the cost of the panels and hardware for solar power.

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