Lisa Aliferis / KQED

Rooftop solar panels on a home in Oakland.

San Jose comes in third with more than 2,700 rooftop installations, while San Francisco comes in fourth with more than 2,400 (though it’s fifth in terms of overall capacity). San Diego leads with 4,500-plus installations producing almost 37 megawatts of electricity.

“I think the story with San Diego is that the city was an early and very consistent adopter of solar power,” says Michelle Kinman, clean energy advocate with Environment California Research & Policy Center. “San Diego also has a really well coordinated working relationship between the local elected officials, the utility, the solar industry and the advocacy community.”

Several of the top cities on the list have doubled their solar capacity in just the last two years. In 2000, California had fewer than 1,000 rooftop installations. That’s grown to 100,000 installations in 2011, which makes up more than one gigawatt of distributed energy. “Solar is really taking hold,” says Kinman. “The costs are coming down. We’ve had solar policies at the state and local level for several years and they’re proving themselves.”

Kinman says they’re seeing solar spread throughout the state to the “agricultural and industrial hubs of the Central Valley. Solar power is really taking hold in both rural and urban areas across the state.”

The solar industry has certainly had a boost from rapidly falling prices on solar photovoltaic panels, which dropped a whopping 50% in 2011 alone. Industry analysts say prices could keep falling. According to GTM Research, an oversupply of high purity silicon (a source material for solar panels) could drive down silicon prices this year, which means manufacturers could sell panels for even less.

Rooftop solar has also grown thanks to solar-leasing programs, where consumers realize cost-savings immediately, instead of buying the solar system themselves. Solar leasing has surged in Southern California, according to a recent report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It grew from 9% of residential solar installations during the first quarter of 2009 to 36% during the first quarter of 2011 (among projects tracked by the California Solar Initiative database).

Solar leasing is also more popular with low-income households and in neighborhoods with younger families, according to the report. NREL study author Easan Drury says leasing options have attracted new solar customers in different demographics and has shown to be an even bigger draw than cheaper solar panels.

To maintain the growth in distributed solar, Kinman wants to see a lift on the net-metering cap for California utilities. Right now, utilities are only required to sign contracts with residential solar customers for up to 5% of their overall power load. She also supports a robust feed-in-tariff program. “Feed-in-tariffs have been used the world over and a really one of the most trusted policies for driving a solar market. “

Kimberly Ayers

This morning's commute, 405 North, Los Angeles

If we all were driving cars that averaged the newly announced federal standard for fuel efficiency, Californians would save $34.9 million this Thanksgiving weekend. At least, those are the numbers from a report released today In Culver City by Environment California. That $17 per family spells another four holiday pies or a few more lattes on the way home. Put that slice of information on your Christmas list — not for this year but for 2025. Even with the usual exemptions and provisions, the new standard announced by the Obama administration would still effectively almost double the average gas mileage for a carmaker’s fleet in those 14 years.

Plenty of people believe that this move will be good for business, not the least of which are the 13 automakers and the head of the United Auto Workers union who stood with President Obama when he announced the proposed standards last July.

Kimberly Ayers

Electric cars, like this Nissan Leaf, will be part of the solution to bring a fleet's average up to 54.5 mpg.

Ceres, a national coalition of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups, says the new standard would create more than 57,000 new jobs in California. Their economic model suggests that money saved on gas will get spent elsewhere in the economy, boosting job growth not only in the auto industry but also in retail, health care, food services, construction and even education. Come next month, the new standards will get another Golden State “goose” when the Air Resources Board proposes that 15% of the new cars and small trucks sold in the state will have to be powered by batteries, fuel cells or some other low-emission technology by 2025.

Fifty-four miles per gallon is not as far out of reach as you might think. At the L.A. Auto Show this week, close to 20 out of the 50 new vehicle debuts boast 40+ MPG. The National Automobile Dealers Association has criticized the new rules, saying it would tack another $4,000 onto the average price of a car. The Ceres study pegs the price jump at more like $3,200, and it also calculates a low-end savings estimate of $4,900 at the pump over the life of a 2025 vehicle. Electrics are part of the picture but still need work to be widely adopted, says a new NPR series that started today. Nissan’s Leaf gets around 100 miles per charge, maybe not quite enough to get you “over the river and through the woods.” Plenty of food for thought along with your turkey and stuffing, and something to dream about besides sugar plums.

Craig Miller

Fifteen years from now, the average car in the United States must get nearly 55 miles to the gallon,  according to new fuel-efficiency standards proposed Friday by the Obama Administration.  That’s a sharp increase from the current requirement that vehicles average 34.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

California officials, environmental groups, and automakers are praising the new rules, which would require  a fleet-wide average for cars and light trucks of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

On a call with reporters today, Governor Jerry Brown called the new regulations, “probably the brightest light I’ve seen in Washington in many a month, if not years.”

Brown said the new standards would encourage technological innovation, reduce fuel consumption, and cut greenhouse gas emissions across the state and the country.

California has been fighting for tighter emissions restrictions on passenger vehicles for years.  In 2002, the state began seeking a waiver from the EPA so it could set its own greenhouse gas emission standards for cars, but that wasn’t granted until 2009.  Last year the Obama Administration announced the first greenhouse gas emissions standards on a national level, based on California regulations for vehicles manufactured through 2016.

The state had been set to announce its own rules for model years 2017-2025, but in January the Air Resources Board announced that it would commit to a shared deadline with the federal government.

Officials from the California Air Resources Board worked closely with federal agencies, automakers, and environmental groups to develop the new rules.

“California has been pushing, starting way back with the Governor Reagan/President Nixon era, right up to to the present,” said Brown. “And what this demonstrates here, is that with this persistence, the auto companies have finally come on board, and that innovative role for California was crucial in all this.”

According to the White House, the new fuel standards will save 12 billion barrels of oil and eliminate six billion metric tons of CO2 pollution, and save consumers $1.7 trillion at the pump.  In California alone, the new standards would save 180,000 barrels of oil a day, equal to cutting the state’s oil consumption by 20%, according to the non-profit group Environment California.

“We think this is a very good deal, and we are happy and proud to have played a role in shaping it,” said California Air Resources Board head Mary Nichols.

“What California does is push the envelope.  But not just for the sake of pushing the envelope. We do this because we have a need to reduce the impact of our whole transportation system on our environment and to improve its economic performance,” Nichols said.

Cars and light trucks are currently responsible for 28% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions.