Solar Power and Energy Storage

Convergence of Clean Tech, Materials Science and Information Technology

The greater San Diego region is a state leader in solar energy.    

According to the California Solar Initiative, San Diego has the greatest solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption rates in the state and currently holds the designation as the "Number One Solar City," due to the number of solar PV rooftop installations. In addition, CleanTECH San Diego recently led a collaboration that resulted in the San Diego region securing an allocation of $154 MM of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) which can be used by municipalities to install an additional 20 megawatts of solar. One of five dollars available nationally came to San Diego with this collaborative public-private partnership.  

This robust business climate helps to support the over 180 solar energy businesses which call San Diego home. Much of the region’s success in the solar sector is due to a strong partnership between the local colleges and universities and the private sector. 

UC San Diego serves as the Co-Lead for the CA Solar Collaborative on behalf of the CA Energy Commission which is chartered to integrate the needs of the private and public sectors regarding their respective interests in meeting the California Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). UCSD is a pioneer leader in the emerging field of solar forecasting with state and federal funding to enable utilities and transmission operators with the ability to mitigate the operational issues due to the intermittency of solar energy.   

UCSD and SDSU serve as incubators for private sector solar beta testing. UCSD is a leader in electricity and thermal energy storage in order to improve the efficient operation of the regional grid and to raise the economic valuation of variable renewable energy resources such as solar energy. UCSD has secured $3.4M in funding of large-scale electricity energy storage and separately signed a memorandum of understanding for research, education and demonstrations on campus with one of the largest global companies in PV-integrated storage. Proposals have been submitted to turn UCSD into a CA Center of Excellence in Energy Storage, including the use of “second life” stationary applications of used lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles.  

These innovative university programs serve to seed the greater San Diego solar market in order to accelerate innovation, commercialization and installation of solar energy in the region. The additive critical focus on energy storage engages the materials science and high tech sectors in the region.