Why San Diego is a Solar Leader (and Los Angeles is a Solar Loser)

FORBES. By David Ferris. 3.20.12. San Diego gets more of its power from the sun than anyplace in America. The city’s solar panels can produce almost 37 megawatts of electricity, more solar than exists in the entire nation of Mexico. San Diego has 500 more solar installations than its mega-neighbor, the city of Los Angeles, though L.A. is just as sunny and has nearly three times as many people. Why is solar so much more successful here than in L.A.? I visited San Diego earlier this month to find out, and learned that it has a lot to do with a friendly, solar-oriented culture — and fortunate political geography.

Both San Diego and Los Angeles enjoy a climate that is as welcoming to solar panels as it is to beachgoers. Endless sun and mild temperatures mean that photovoltaic solar panels work at maximum efficiency and bring a homeowner the most wattage for the buck. So why the difference? I spoke to Dan Sullivan, president of Sullivan Solar, which is the leading installer in San Diego and is now trying to crack the Los Angeles market. Sullivan is one of the industry’s success stories. He started the company in 2004 with one truck; now he has 68 employees (those “green jobs” that politicians talk about). Last year, he madeInc. magazine’s list of the fastest-growing companies, with 423 percent growth over three years. Last year’s revenues were $22 million.

To understand what works about San Diego, Sullivan said, it helps to understand how things work elsewhere. Los Angeles County is made up of 88 different cities, many of which have wildly diverging rules that dictate how solar can be installed. They require cumbersome paperwork that varies from city to city, and sometimes charge stiff fees. The electric utilities are also divided: Los Angeles Department of Water & Power covers the city of Los Angeles, while the suburbs are subjects of the vast utility empire known as Southern California Edison. San Diego, on the other hand, is comprised of only 18 cities, with one city — San Diego — overwhelmingly dominant in size. The entire county is served by one electric utility, San Diego Gas & Electric. This has made it easier to harmonize the rules for installing solar panels. Permitting rules are roughly the same in all areas of the county, and permits are issued quickly and for as much as 10 times less than in Los Angeles-area towns, Sullivan said. In unincorporated San Diego County, there’s no permit fees at all.

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