The SunWater Solar crew, along with thousands of exhibitors and attendees from the national and international solar industry, was in attendance this week at the Intersolar trade show in San Francisco. This event is the place to check out some of the latest and greatest products hitting the solar industry, and hear all the latest news from industry insiders.

Some of the hottest buzz at the show, however, was anything but sunny. Among the many photovoltaic (PV) industry exhibitors and attendees, there was great disappointment with the State of California’s temporary suspension last week of CSI solar incentive rebates for PV projects. The freeze halts payment of incentives to non-profit groups and public entities, such as school districts, that install PV systems.

Happily, Solar Thermal projects are unaffected by these changes and will still be eligible for CSI rebate money. At the moment, California’s entire Solar Thermal industry is waiting with baited breath for the CSI Thermal Program to release the commercial Solar Thermal rebate calculator. When these calculations are made public, commercial customers, manufacturers and installers will finally be able to see exactly how much the state will contribute to the installation cost of new commercial Solar Thermal systems.