Russ Steele
I keep hearing that Nevada City is the “Solar City of California” I heard it again today while watching the BoS meeting on AB811 implementation. This article appeared in the Sacramento Bee on April 18th, 2010: Nevada City embraces solar powerNevada City is, according to city officials, the No. 1 solar community in California, with one in five homes using solar for all or part of their power.
In fact, solar is popular in neighborhoods and communities throughout Nevada County, where more than 400 permits for solar installations have been granted since 2005 and the number has nearly tripled in the last four years.
I contacted the Planning Department and asked how many permits had been issue since 2000. They said that the data base only went back to 2004. See the chart showing the number of permits issued by year.
With 1415 housing units in Nevada City, if one in every five homes have solar panels in that should equated to 20% of the 1415 housing units have solar panels, for a total of 283 installs. The County could only find 112 solar installation permits from 2004 to 2009.
If 400 permits were issued in five years as the “city officials” stated, that would average about 80 permits a year. And, “...nearly tripling in the last four years”? Perhaps the Mayor Reinette Senum can explain that math, I cannot. Maybe she explained it to the reporter that wrote the story? Or, maybe the reporter wrote the story wrong? Or, the reported is math challenged and did not understand what the Mayor said. But, I digress.
Bottom line, Nevada City’s solar panels seem to be missing. Where are they?
Update #1(04-28-10:09:45)
In a post here Jeff Pelline takes me to task for questioning the Nevada City solar claims. He points to a report by the Environment California Research & Policy Center as the source of the data. California’s Solar Cities Leading the Way to a Clean Energy Future.
Environment California Research & Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) organization. We are dedicated to protecting California’s air, water and open spaces. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public and decision makers, and help Californians make their voices heard in local, state and national debates over the quality of our environment and our lives.
In other words they have a vested interest in promoting solar energy.
From the report:
The data for Nevada City, for example, shows that nearly one in every five households hosts a solar system.
SOURCE: Solar roof data compiled from California Energy Commission, California Public Utilities Commission and the state’s municipal utilities. Household data comes from 2000 U.S. Census.
The percentage listed in the report is 19%. With 1313 house holds that equates to 250 installed solar systems. According to the County only 112 of those installs were permitted. That leads to several possibilities
1) The 138 missing installs were before 2004, and do not appear in the County database.
2) There are 138 un-inspected solar installs in Nevada City
3) The data collected by Environment California Research & Policy Center is in error.
4) The County solar permit data is wrong, they failed to capture all the solar installs.
But, then one has to question the statement made by some one at the City quoted in the Bee article “...nearly tripling in the last four years” That would imply that most of the installs came while the County was issuing and tracking solar permits.
If I were a code enforcement officer I would try to get to the bottom of the issue, as there may be 138 un-inspected solar installs in Nevada City? Which is it? Bad data, poor enforcement, or just more fake solar promotion by an environmental organization with a vested interest? Your thoughts?
