Top California Solar Counties
San Diego, Santa Clara, and Los Angeles are the top California solar counties, based on the number of solar homes added in 2010 through May.
Using California Solar Initiative data, SunRun has ranked the top solar counties in California in order to make information on California solar growth more accessible and easier to understand.
You can also see our rankings for the Top Solar Cities in California and Top Solar Cities in Orange County, California.
Top California Solar Counties, ranked by the number of solar homes added in 2010 through May*
| Rank | California solar counties | Solar homes added in 2010 through May | Solar homes added from 2007-2010 | Solar share: % of homes with solar |
| 1 | San Diego | 1,081 | 4,975 | 0.50% |
| 2 | Santa Clara | 683 | 3,351 | 0.57% |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 627 | 3,131 | 0.10% |
| 4 | Orange | 587 | 2,299 | 0.23% |
| 5 | Riverside | 451 | 1,726 | 0.25% |
| 6 | Fresno | 427 | 1,745 | 0.58% |
| 7 | Sonoma | 421 | 1,826 | 1.17% |
| 8 | Placer | 372 | 1,198 | 1.05% |
| 9 | Alameda | 364 | 2,027 | 0.41% |
| 10 | Contra Costa | 360 | 1,711 | 0.50% |
| 11 | Kern | 292 | 991 | 0.37% |
| 12 | San Bernardino | 236 | 1,104 | 0.16% |
| 13 | San Francisco | 204 | 1,473 | 0.55% |
| 14 | San Mateo | 196 | 1,115 | 0.47% |
| 15 | El Dorado | 157 | 587 | 1.00% |
| 16 | Santa Cruz | 141 | 766 | 0.91% |
| 17 | Ventura | 132 | 779 | 0.29% |
| 18 | Santa Barbara | 130 | 532 | 0.39% |
| 19 | San Luis Obispo | 110 | 709 | 0.80% |
| 20 | San Joaquin | 85 | 465 | 0.21% |
| 21 | Marin | 84 | 855 | 1.03% |
| 22 | Napa | 82 | 454 | 1.02% |
| 23 | Solano | 73 | 326 | 0.24% |
| 24 | Madera | 68 | 252 | 0.51% |
| 25 | Yolo | 67 | 544 | 0.83% |
| 26 | Tulare | 65 | 381 | 0.27% |
| 27 | Monterey | 61 | 334 | 0.25% |
| 28 | Nevada | 56 | 312 | 0.96% |
| 29 | Butte | 55 | 403 | 0.55% |
| 30 | Merced | 37 | 155 | 0.19% |
| 31 | Mendocino | 35 | 202 | 0.70% |
| 32 | Kings | 31 | 135 | 0.27% |
| 33 | Shasta | 29 | 196 | 0.33% |
| 34 | Stanislaus | 29 | 126 | 0.07% |
| 35 | Yuba | 26 | 102 | 0.42% |
| 36 | Sutter | 26 | 120 | 0.39% |
| 37 | Calaveras | 23 | 152 | 0.97% |
| 38 | Lake | 23 | 126 | 0.58% |
| 39 | Tuolumne | 15 | 109 | 0.59% |
| 40 | Tehama | 13 | 65 | 0.32% |
| 41 | Amador | 12 | 85 | 0.67% |
| 42 | Humboldt | 12 | 100 | 0.23% |
| 43 | Plumas | 10 | 48 | 0.71% |
| 44 | Colusa | 10 | 34 | 0.48% |
| 45 | Mariposa | 8 | 27 | 0.45% |
| 46 | San Benito | 8 | 58 | 0.32% |
| 47 | Glenn | 7 | 49 | 0.52% |
| 48 | Inyo | 5 | 42 | 0.74% |
| 49 | Mono | 5 | 12 | 0.28% |
| 50 | Sacramento | 5 | 15 | 0.00% |
| 51 | Lassen | 2 | 9 | 0.08% |
| 52 | Sierra | 1 | 5 | 0.09% |
*Based on data provided by the California Solar Initiative from 2007 through May 2010. Does not include data from municipal utilities, which are not part of the California Solar Initiative. Includes counties with 5 or more home solar installations since 2007. Solar share calculated by total home solar installations from 2007 through May 2010 as a percentage of total households using Census data.
"SunRun fit the budget. If I’m going to pay for electricity, it feels good to pay for it at home."
See Our Solar Videos
Like videos? Learn how SunRun and solar works through SunRun's informational video.
Get a Free Solar Quote
Find out how much you can save when you go solar with SunRun.