Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 8:19:43 AM - by Nate Lew

New California laws will make solar power more attractive to homeowners and private developers, solar installers and alternative energy proponents hope.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that the two bills will require utilities to pay for privately generated solar power that is fed back into the electrical grid.

The first bill amends the state law governing solar panel installations, which says that home solar systems cannot generate more energy than the home can be expected to consume. That law has led homeowners to install smaller arrays and forced them to buy some of their energy from their local utility.

Previously, homeowners could only hope to have electrical bills of zero. Now, their utilities may be paying them.

Joe Arredondo, sales manager at a solar equipment company, was quoted as saying that the payback period for a home installation should be about 10 or 12 years, holding energy prices constant. Under the new law, homeowners can expect to earn money selling excess power to utilities - shortening the payback period.

The second bill establishes similar rules for solar systems owned by private companies, requiring utilities to pay those companies for the excess solar power they generate.