Administrative Law Judge Edmister’s Proposed Decision Re:  Energy Efficiency Goals for 2016 and Beyond, Energy Efficiency Rolling Portfolio Mechanics, and Guidance for Changes to 2016 Energy Efficiency Program Portfolios.  The full text of this decision is made available through the link provided below. 

http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/SearchRes.aspx?docformat=ALL&docid=154225993

In the event of problems with this e-mail or internet link, please contact Shonta Bryant-Floyd at sbf@cpuc.ca.gov, telephone # 415-703-5242.

The  Solar Permitting Efficiency Act, signed into law by Governor Brown in September 2014, requires California cities and counties to adopt an ordinance that creates an expedited solar permitting process by September 30, 2015. The  Solar Permitting Efficiency Act modified specific statutes that compose the Solar Rights Act and requires cities and counties to substantially conform their streamlined permitting process to recommendations contained in the current version of Spring 2015 Second Edition of this Guidebook lays out a safe, standardized, and streamlined permitting process for small residential photovoltaic (PV) and solar water heating systems (SWH) that can be adopted by most local governments with only minor changes to reflect local requirements.

To support local governments in achieving the ambitious goals set by the Solar Permitting Efficiency Act, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) has been working to remove barriers that constrain expansion of small-scale renewables.  The Solar Permitting Guidebook is an important step toward this goal. The Guidebook explains current requirements for small residential solar PV and SWH installations, describes key steps in the permitting process, and recommends ways to improve local permitting. It also includes several template documents that local governments can customize for their own use to improve permitting. The Guidebook can also provide useful information to solar contractors and property owners.

Please visit the OPR webpage to view the Solar Permitting Guidebook, download editable Toolkit documents, and find additional information and resources related to solar and renewable energy. For more information, please contact Carolyn Angius at Carolyn.Angius@OPR.CA.GOV.

A team of Google engineers just released a tool called  Project Sunroof to handle those concerns and more. They adapted the high-resolution aerial maps from Google Earth to estimate the total sunlight a rooftop receives throughout the year. The tool then tells you how much you can expect to save with solar panels under different financing plans (you can plug in your current electric bill for a more refined calculation) and connects you with local companies that do installations.  The tool covers limited communities at this point, but will be expanded in the future.