Solar served up an unprecedented 50% of the state’s demand on a sunny day around 1pm PT on March 5.
The next day, utility operators reported a second record for total generation from solar which produced 10,411 megawatts, beating out last year’s record by 5%.
The state is regularly shunting electricity to Arizona and other states (sometimes paying them to do so) to avoid overloading its own power lines.
Greentech Media reports there’s little prospect of big new purchases of solar, or other renewable energy sources for that matter, by utilities.
The US residential rooftop solar market, after at least 16 consecutive years of growth, shrank slightly in 2017, reports Bloomberg.
But the residential industry is not going away, with an estimated 2,500 MW installed last year, much of it in California.
One thing could tip California’s solar market back into a furious growth period: a new target. »
