Last year, San Diego was named California’s top solar city by advocacy group Environment America, but Los Angeles has been making headlines left and right with some of the most daring solar plans in the country. So which city really deserves the title “Hottest California Solar Market”?

The July 2009 report (PDF) gave San Diego top marks for number of solar rooftops as well as total solar capacity, while the City of Angels came in a close second on rooftop solar installations–but only fourth on total capacity. But long-term commitment to solar means a lot, so let’s take a look at each city in turn.

SAN DIEGO

With nearly 19,500 installed kilowatts of solar power at the time of last year’s report, San Diego has earned the right to be laid back about developments like the new 945 kW solar plant at a city water treatment facility. In fact if you’re curious about where to find solar installations throughout the city, check out the San Diego solar map highlighting individual projects.

San Diego also got props in the July report for low solar permitting fees–and the city no longer deserves such praise. At the beginning of this year, city officials hiked solar permit fees from less than $100 to nearly $600, a move that drew a lot of flak from the industry for throwing up a possible roadblock to small scale solar growth.

What about incentives? Residential solar installations in SDG&E territory are now receiving the newly stepped-down CSI rebate of $0.65/watt, which accounts for around 13 percent of solar costs. (Ah, acronyms; refer here for background.)  Now, if you’re an SCE customer, that utility is still a couple steps behind on the CSI and is still offering a much sweeter $1.90/watt for home solar projects.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders doesn’t think the city’s love affair with solar is over, though; in a statement about the new 945 kW system mentioned above, he said: ““San Diego has made major strides in our energy-management efforts over the past decade…We’ll continue to look for ways to manage the energy we use and to generate power with solar and other renewable sources.”

LOS ANGELES

Energetic, solar-passionate Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been doing all he can to make the case for solar in his city. His goals were in fact deemed too lofty by city officials, and his ambitious plan to get 380 mW of solar energy installed in the city by 2020 has been snagged by economic concerns. In order to provide either the rebates or the feed in tariff necessary to reach such this goal, municipal utility LADWP says it needs to hike its electric rates more than 5 percent, a move city officials have blocked with an eye to residents’ wallets in this recession.

So: love the plan, L.A., but execution is still a bit iffy. However, the city may win out over San Diego in terms of real, voiced commitment to solar. And while LADWP may be contemplating changes to policy moving forward, right now its solar rebate is perhaps the most generous in the state.  Check out our California Solar Series for more info–Part 1 details the LADWP and SCE rebates, while Part II addresses the smaller municipal utilities of Burbank, Glendale,Vernon, Azusa, and Pasadena.

And L.A., it turns out, has created what may be a unique niche in the solar industry: providing a way out of the violent cycle of gang life by training former gang members as solar installers.

As far as solar permitting fees go, the Vote Solar permit map puts L.A. at a mid-level $307, though fees actually used to be much higher. The county average is a bit higher at $370, but still beats out San Diego.

SO WRAP IT UP ALREADY.

Okay, so where does this leave us? San Diego is winning on past achievements, but many of its residents are looking at lower solar rebates than their L.A. counterparts and growth may be slowing a bit from its frenzied rate of the last couple of years. Los Angeles, on the other hand, has a way to go before catching up to San Diego in terms of actual installed kilowatts of solar–but has a dedicated mayor pushing hard for future growth, as well as excellent solar rebates for home solar. L.A. may be just starting its most serious solar growth spurt.

Both cities are clearly leaders in solar energy policy and implementation. This may be a photo finish right now–but give L.A. a few more months, and it seems likely that the city will edge ahead of its neighbor to the south. What do you think? If you live in Southern California or work in the California solar market, we’d love to hear which city you believe is winning the solar race–and why.