California, the state that is notorious for its power consumption issues, has joined just five countries who have reached the milestone of producing more than one gigawatt of electricity through solar power.  What is most exciting about this achievement is the potential for so much more power production.

One report suggests that California has the capacity to add up to 79 gigawatts of additional power through solar, which is twice as much as daily peak demand right now.  This could be a huge boon for the struggling state that has littered headlines with rolling blackouts and power shortages for the past several years.

This progress is due to California’s Million Solar Roofs Initiative, which has a goal of producing three gigawatts of power by the end of 2016.  At current growth rates of 40 percent, this goal should be easy to achieve.  California is offering incentives to businesses and homeowners alike to install the solar panels, which has helped boost the state’s economy through the solar industry, and help reduce demands on the state’s electric grid.

The boost in the solar industry in California has helped reduce the cost of installing solar systems, making them accessible to more households.  The cost per watt in 2007 to install solar was about $10.  It has dropped by nearly 25 percent to $7.60 per watt this year.

If California, one of the hardest-hit states in the economic decline, can manage such an accomplishment in just a few years, so too can other states.  This has the potential to dramatically change our reliance on traditional power nationwide, as well as boosting the economy through green building projects in every state.