Solar energy is a type of renewable energy that may or may not be the answer to all of our electricity needs, but there are some places in the world that are perfect when it comes to solar energy, and California is one of those places. Because of the amount of sunlight California gets in a day, it makes it perfect for solar energy, that is why solar energy research in California is prevalent. Here is the solar energy research and development in California.
What city in California uses the most solar energy?
1. San Jose, California
San Jose was actually declared the Solar America City by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) last March 28, 2008, because they had been a leader in the advancement and use of solar technology in the country. Bringing awareness to the use of solar energy in municipal, residential, and commercial sectors.
They had an aggressive 15-year program called “The Green Vision” where they were able to preserve the environment, create more jobs, and improve their quality of life.
2. San Diego, California
The 2nd city in California that uses the most solar energy goes to San Diego, according to the report that was made by the Environment California Research and Policy Center because over 32,000 homes in the city have turned to solar power. They also have this Climate Action Plan that says that they are planning on switching to 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2035.
3. Bakersfield, California
Over 69 percent of the residents and businesses in Bakersfield have turned to solar energy, and that number is continuing to grow, which is why they take third place. There are over 272 sunny days in the city every year, this is what makes Bakersfield the perfect place for solar energy.
Why is California a good place for solar energy?
1. They know they are perfect for solar
California is the perfect candidate for solar energy. As a state, they have started harnessing and getting raw power from other renewable energy sources, not only the free energy that they are getting from the sun, and they are ahead of the curve when it comes to establishing some establishment for solar energy.
There is a solar farm built by Martin Hermann called Springbok 2 where they would be able to produce electricity that is much cheaper than a traditional power plant. A power plant that would use fossil fuels like natural gas, coal, and oil. They could generate energy that could cost you as low as $43 per megawatt-hour.
This resulted in much cleaner and greener energy, fewer expenses, and a healthier and happier population.
2. Golden state
There is a reason why California is known as the golden state, not only because a lot of Hollywood stars chose to live there, but because it is a gold mine of solar energy. California is blessed with so much sunlight and nice sunny weather, this is why the solar PV models are thriving in this place and they would be able to produce the most electricity. Aside from solar energy, they also have these other clean and renewable energy sources.
3. Excess power
Though electricity production has not been a problem in California, there has been a price hike in the state because the new and extra electricity that is being produced has nowhere to go. We currently have no solar batteries that could carry and store all of this excess energy that California has been getting, so they usually go to the grids.
4. Solar companies
California happens to be the home to a lot of the best solar companies in the United States of America. These companies help in providing people and businesses with some awareness of the use of solar energy. They are a state that is known for bringing awareness to solar energy and are actually willing to contribute to a much cleaner and greener change.
5. Goldmine for electricity
All of these different solar energy projects have had a huge contribution to the surplus of generated electricity in the state. With the amount of energy that they had been producing, the wholesale electricity prices now started to turn negative because they had been producing so much electricity.
There have been price rollbacks because of the thousands of solar companies and solar farms that are in California, and it has been maximized. They had even started offering some electricity to their neighboring states like Arizona because of how much electricity they had been producing.
If you are living in California and you are interested in going solar, then this is your sign. There are a lot of benefits that you could get when you choose to go solar, not only would you be able to save money on your electricity bill, but you could also help the environment by lessening your carbon footprint in the atmosphere.