Around this time of year, we find that not a lot of folks are thinking about large-scale home or business investments. It’s the holidays, we’re all a bit frantic. In some parts of the country, it may not even be practical to look at a solar installation for another few months considering ice and snow conditions. But in central coast California down through San Diego, this is hardly an issue–and this is also among the best regions in the country in which to pursue solar. Why? Solar resource (the availability and intensity of sunlight); great financing options; great solar incentives, like tax breaks and rebates; and a general supportive atmosphere. Your neighbors aren’t going to complain: they’re going to ask if they can take a tour.

San Diego as a Solar Resource

NREL Solar Resource Map U.S.

As you can see in the map above, there may be a few places in the country that can compete for insolation (solar radiation levels)–but there aren’t many. From Atascadero all the way down the coast, the solar resource is excellent; and moving inland from San Diego to Palm Desert and beyond, the resource is simply unbeatable. If you want to see how this great solar availability has resulted in real projects, check out this interactive map of San Diego solar installations.

San Diego Solar Rebates and Incentives

Whether you’re a customer of SCE, SDG&E, Anaheim Public Utilities, or LADWP, you can qualify for utility rebates that reduce up-front solar costs for most residential projects by at least 20 percent. Palm Desert also offers a low-interest loan program to make solar easier to finance (current phase of funding is closed, but the program is expected to reopen in the near future).

Additionally, all projects are eligible for the 30 percent federal investment tax credit, so your net cost may be at least 50 percent below gross. This paves the way to short payback periods and appealing ROI.

San Diego Solar Financing

This week, Adam filled us in on a great new program that will allow San Diego county residents to finance solar with municipal funds repaid via a 20-year surcharge on property taxes. Solar FIRST has been kicking around some California municipalities for a while now, but its availability to San Diego area residents is exciting news.

Not that I don’t give Southern California residents credit as things stand today: San Diego has already been named the best solar city in California, leading the state (as of July 2009) with about 19.5 MW installed solar capacity distributed across more than 2,260 rooftops. At the end of 2008, the California Energy Commission put total installed megawatts of solar in the state at 440 MW, so San Diego solar installations are pulling a fair bit of weight, comparatively.

Central Coast and Southern California solar are deservedly hot topics, and on the rise. This is a smart time to go solar, too: with solar module prices at low ebb due to the industry’s solar panel glut of the past year, but rebates and other solar incentives still going strong, there really has never been a better time to make this investment.