Many others appear to be thinking the same thing. One aspect of the state's subsidy program helps residents and small businesses buy on-site energy systems, usually solar. In the past two months, sign-ups have surged from 50 applications a month last year to 200 to 250 a month currently. The biggest barrier to date for solar technology is its high initial cost, Masri said. Once installed, it's cheap to operate.
Maintenance is minimal.
The subsidy amounts to one-third the cost. Because the state subsidies are funded by the private utilities, they're available only to customers of those utilities. SMUD has its own solar subsidy program. It, too, has become suddenly popular. Frank and Stacey Quadro had a solar system installed Thursday on their house in Carmichael.