Los Angeles ranks No. 1 in total installed solar, report says

Los Angeles has outstripped San Diego as the city with the most solar installations in the nation, one report says.

By the end of 2013, Angelenos installed a cumulative total of 132 megawatts of solar power, according to a report from the Environment California Research & Policy Center. That is about one-third more than San Diego, which previously held the No. 1 spot.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industries Assn. “Los Angeles should be head and shoulders ahead of the pack.”

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Four California cities are in the top 10 with a hefty amount of installed solar. San Jose comes in at No. 4, while San Francisco is in ninth place.

Del Chiaro said Los Angeles has been making strides to put policies in place that will improve the relationship between solar customers and the L.A. Department of Water and Power.

The DWP said last month that it was hiring more workers and simplifying applications for customers who install solar panels on their roofs.

Those efforts included doubling its staff for processing applications, and also hiring more workers to man its hotline. The utility is also looking for ways to improve the overall experience for solar customers, such as streamlining the application review process.

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