Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

San Diego Tapping the Sun's Energy

The California Public Utilities Commission says the state has reached a milestone with its solar initiative. And San Diego County is doing its part to go solar. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

San Diego Tapping the Sun's Energy

The California Public Utilities Commission says the state has reached a milestone with its solar initiative. And San Diego County is doing its part to go solar. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details. 

The California Solar Initiative started last year in an effort to add 1,750 megawatts of solar generating capacity by 2016. 

Advertisement

That equals the energy produced by three large power plants.

Molly Tirpak Sterkel with the public utilities commission says a record number of projects were finished in the last three months. 

Sterkel: In the San Diego region we have had over a thousand applications for new solar. About 900 of those have come from residential consumers. And all totaled those applications equal 23 megawatts of new solar that will be built in the San Diego region.

She says that's enough juice to provide electricity for more than 12,000 homes.

Sterkel also says it's a significant number because 50 megawatts is the size of a small peaking power plant.

Advertisement

She says adding power from solar energy saves the need to build more power plants throughout the state. 

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.