Sen. Scott Wiener (D-Calif.) recently introduced a bill that aims to expand access to solar energy for businesses, schools, nonprofits and municipalities, according to dailyenergyinsider.com.
The bill, SB 1399, would allow nonresidential customers to partner with developed sites, such as parking lots, warehouses, brownfields and landfills, and use those sites to provide solar energy for their local communities.
"To meet our aggressive renewable energy goals, California needs to dramatically expand solar, including maximizing use of our empty rooftops and other developed spaces that are ripe for solar," Wiener says. "However, these locations sometimes have no need for solar power and therefore sit unused, while other energy customers want to access renewable energy but have no space to install solar. SB 1399 brings these two groups together—supply and demand—to drive an increase in solar installations in urbanized areas throughout California."
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), California has about 35,000 acres of previously developed sites, including 20,000 acres in disadvantaged communities, that could be used to provide solar energy.
"California has long been our nation's leader in solar energy, but many of its businesses and schools face practical barriers to adopting solar," says Sean Gallagher, SEIA's vice president of state affairs. "This bill provides an innovative, yet common sense solution that will unlock access to local clean energy for these organizations while creating thousands of jobs in California. We thank Sen. Wiener for his leadership in advancing California's solar economy."
