California: California Solar Initiative - Solar Water Heating Rebate Program

AB 1470 of 2007 authorized the creation of a $350 million incentive program for solar water heating systems. Of the $350 million in total funding, $250 million is reserved for systems that will displace natural gas powered water heaters, and $100 million is set aside for systems replacing electric water heaters. Before developing the program, however, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) had to wait for results from a pilot solar water heating program administered by the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) in the San Diego area. After reviewing the positive results of the pilot program, the CPUC developed rules for the statewide program and the program administrators began accepting applications retroactively on May 1, 2010 for single-family residential systems installed after July 15, 2009. Rebate applications for multifamily residential and commercial customers have been accepted since June 2010.

The program is being administered by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), Southern California Gas Company (SCGC) and CCSE on behalf of San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). Homes must heat their water using gas or electricity supplied by one of the participating utilities to be eligible for incentives. There are different incentive levels depending on whether the solar water heating system displaces electricity or natural gas. Incentives will be paid upfront based on the SRCC estimated first year energy savings. Similar to the PV incentives offered through the California Solar Initiative, the incentives offered through this program will step down four times as installation milestones are met. Steps will decline separately in each service territory and for the two general customer classes.

Interested residential customers should contact the appropriate program administrator:

Pacific Gas and Electric:
Phone: (877) 743-4112
Email: solar@pge.com
Website: http://www.pge.com/csithermal

California Center for Sustainable Energy (SDG&E territory):
Phone: (877) 333-SWHP
Email: swh@energycenter.org
Website: http://www.energycenter.org/swh

Southern California Gas Company:
Phone: (800) Gas-2000
Email: CSIThermalProgram@SoCalGas.com
Website: http://www.socalgas.com/rebates/solar/

Southern California Edison:
Phone: (800) 799-4177
Email: CSIGroup@sce.com
Website: http://www.sce.com/csithermal