Healthy Development Measurement Toolkit

Indicator ES.1.g Annual electricity produced (kWh) by solar power installations

Data Source

Solar panel data accessed from San Francisco Department of the Environment, August 24, 2009. For more information and individual solar installation locations see San Francisco Solar Map at www.sf.solarmap.org/.

Maps created by San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section using ArcGIS software. Table data is presented by zip code. Detailed information regarding census data, geographic units of analysis, their definitions, and their boundaries can be found in the HDMT at the following links:

http://www.thehdmt.org/etc/Geographic_Units_of_Analysis.pdf

http://www.thehdmt.org/data_map_methods.php

Explanation and Limitations

Solar energy is the energy received by the earth from the sun. This energy is in the form of solar radiation, which makes the production of solar electricity possible. Considerable gains in the use of solor energy sources have been made over the last five years.  Solar power has become one of the most effective was to produce renewable energy. The demand for solar power has been steadily growing, and more and more programs are being offered to support solar installations.

In 2009, San Francisco announced the largest loan program of its kind in the United States that would provide low-interest loans to residents and businesses for solar and energy efficiency upgrades. San Francisco currently offers the largest local solar incentives in the U.S. for residents and businesses through the GoSolarSF program. This local incentive, when paired with the federal tax credit and the California Solar Initiative, cuts the cost of an average residential solar installation by approximately half. Since the inception of GoSolarSF in July of 2008, monthly solar applications have spiked in San Francisco by over 300%. The San Francisco Clean Energy Loan program will complement GoSolarSF by providing borrowing options for residents to cover the remaining cost of their solar installations, and will also be available to help fund urban small scale wind projects, as well as energy efficiency upgrades.

Announced in December of 2007, San Francisco has created a Solar Incentive Program to assists residents and businesses to install solar (photovoltaic) systems by providing a subsidy of $3,000 - $5,000 for residential installations and up to $10,000 for commercial installations.

In May 2004, Mayor Newsom signed the City's Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) ordinance. CCA allows local government to buy electric power from sources such as solar and wind power and then sell that power to local residents and businesses (http://www.sfgov.org/site/mayor_page.asp?id=39117). The ordinance laid out a path to implementing CCA, stating that the goal of this legislation is to ensure the "provision of clean, reasonably priced and reliable electricity under local control." Community Choice Aggregation allows the City of SF to become an electricity purchaser for residents and businesses served by PG&E. Customers have the option to remain PG&E costumers directly if they choose.

Why is this a Community Health Indicator?

Solar power and other renewable energy resources, together with higher levels of energy efficiency, can significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and air pollutants, improve marine and wildlife habitats, lower noise levels, lessen visual impacts, and make a contribution to improved public health.^a,b