Home to more than just SeaWorld and a world-class zoo, the metropolis of San Diego is also one of America’s top clean energy cities, pulling in 27 percent of its electricity through biogas, small hydro and solar power. San Diego County itself is also a solar superstar, leading the state in California Solar Initiative (CSI) applications: from the beginning of 2007 to January 6 of this year, it received a total of 57.4 megawatts’ worth of applications for solar installations, comprising 12.8 percent of the total.

If your home or business is located in San Diego County, chances are your electricity provider is either San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) or Imperial Irrigation District (IID), both of which provide generous solar rebates. SDG&E’s incentives are part of the CSI, a statewide incentive program that provides rebates for residential and commercial installations alike. The rebate you would be eligible for depends on the expected performance of your solar system as well as the total capacity of all the systems linked into your utility at the time of your rebate application.

One important thing to keep in mind, though: while the CSI rebate currently stands at $1.10/watt for all residential and commercial projects under 30 kW, this rebate will fall to $0.65/watt once the CSI allocates the megawatts remaining in its current incentive level (level 6), so act quickly. To see how this works, GetSolar has a guide to navigating the ins and outs of the CSI here.

IID customers are eligible for similar rebates for solar homes and businesses, although the incentives are limited to solar photovoltaic arrays. (The CSI will be launching a solar hot water program starting April 2010, although IID has yet to announce a similar initiative for its customers.) A $2.60/watt rebate for residential systems up to 15 kW, commercial/industrial systems up to 300 kW and government/non-profit systems up to 400 kW is available. Once you’ve submitted a Reservation Confirmation Form, along with a $100 deposit, you have six months to find a solar installer and get your solar PV system up and running. Furthermore, you are required to submit a few additional forms and applications (outlined and found on the IID website) in order to receive official approval for a system, which is necessary in order to receive a rebate.

Add to this the 30 percent federal tax credit available for residential solar systems—which is capped at $2,000 for systems installed after 2009—and San Diego’s solar incentives offer plenty of reasons to turn to the sun. However, no good news arrives without unwanted company: as Margaret reported last week, solar permitting fees in the city of San Diego have soared sixfold over the past month, from $93 to $565. Once the third-cheapest city in the county to go solar, San Diego is now the second most expensive, trailing behind only National City. Still, plenty of cities in San Diego county impose permitting fees roughly less than or equal to the value the Sierra Club deems fair ($324), with the majority staying well below the $300 mark. (A comprehensive list of solar permitting fees in the county can be found here. For those who live in the city of San Diego, the hike in permitting fees is undoubtedly a sudden roadblock. But if solar is right for you otherwise, it will only be a short matter of time before these added costs are recouped.

Fortunately, those building new homes in San Diego County are exempted from paying the building permit and plan check fees for any residential photovoltaic systems, thanks to the county’s Green Building Program. San Diego also recently introduced its Solar FIRST program, an initiative that would allow homeowners to finance their solar panel installations through a loan from their municipal government and repaying the loan over twenty years through a surcharge on their property tax bill, thus relegating the debt to the property owner and making it easier to buy and sell a solar home. While San Diego County could make a few of its permitting fees more digestible, it’s clear from the rebates on offer that it is, on the whole, committed to advancing solar homes and businesses.