Talk:California Solar Initiative

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Someone should really edit the last bit. It's really more of a comment than something that should be in the article.

There are obviously problems with the CSI, but it's very rare that someone would find their bill increasing after installing panels. Basically, that would only happen if they had a very very small system. People with large systems and some orientations will have lower bills (or smaller systems to zero out their bills) than they would under the standard tiered billing - in both cases I mean after solar panels are installed.

One problem seems to be that the standard billing for SCE is tiered, so if you have a small PV system and kept the tiered billing you would only be knocking off the very top tiers, which is really good. With the untiered TOU billing you don't get that extra benefit with a small system. Another thing is the TOU system encourages you to orient your system in a less than perfect way. I think the best orientation for SoCal is about 34 degrees and due solar south (different than magnetic south). The new structure gives you incentive to point your panels towards the sun on a late summer afternoon. This is when SCE needs power the most.

I think the biggest problem at the moment is just that it's more complicated when the user has to switch rate schedules and the added complexity and uncertainty makes an already difficult sale even harder.

I'm not saying this is all good. I have no idea why solar customers shouldn't have the option of TOU or standard rates the same way everyone else does and I would not be at all shocked if that rule was put in there specifically to try to hurt the solar industry. I'm just saying without having a lot of facts to back something like that up, it should be more of a comment than an entry in the article. (Remember to sign your name next time)

"Critics believe the governor's lack of action is due to bias towards freezing technology as observed in the documentary Batman & Robin (1997)"

What the crap is this? 66.77.224.226 (talk) 04:08, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]