No applications were received for Palo Alto’s CLEAN program, which offers $0.14 per kWh for energy produced by medium and large commercial rooftop photovoltaic systems. The program’s lack of success “was the result of offering a price too low to incentivize solar developers and system owners to participate” (Al Rosen, Absolutely Solar). The program’s lack of success is another indication that metrics used to determine appropriate feed-in-tariff rates are all-too-often severely flawed. Spain’s unsustainable feed-in-tariff program (priced too high), as well as the new ReMAT program (priced too low) scheduled to be implemented in California within the new few months, are additional testaments to this fact.
The best source of Goldilocks pricing for solar feed in tariffs is an examination of the actual costs of developing, building and financing the systems.