Los Angeles unveils "world's largest" municipal solar plan

Los Angeles has unveiled a plan to install 1.3GW of solar power by 2020 in what officials claim is the largest solar project undertaken by any city in the world.

Launched last week by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and dubbed "Solar LA", the initiative will involve a mixture of expanded customer solar installations, city-owned projects, and large-scale solar arrays located outside the city in a bid to reduce carbon emissions and create clean tech jobs.

Under the plan, $313m has been earmarked for incentives to encourage rooftop solar installations, and the city has vowed to generously subsidise solar projects for selected low income households.

Low interest loans repaid via property taxes will also help the city reach its goal of 130MW of customer-owned solar panels by 2020. Those unable to afford solar installations will be able to buy shares in solar plants owned by Los Angeles's Department of Water and Power (LADWP), and will then receive lower energy bills as a result.

A new feed-in tarriff will allow solar developers to sell solar-produced energy to LADWP, which currently gets 76 per cent of its power from fossil fuels and is responsible for a third of the city's emissions. The city wants to source 150MW of solar power using the tarriff by 2016.

The LADWP will also install 400Mw of solar panels on city-owned rooftops by 2014, and will sign power purchase agreements for 500MW of solar energy from utility-scale projects by 2020.

This is not the first green move by Mayor Villaraigosa. Last year he unveiled the Green LA initiative, pledging to reduce the city's emissions to 35 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.