MULTI-FAMILY ROOFTOP SOLAR & SOCIAL EQUITY IN LOS ANGELES

MULTI-FAMILY ROOFTOP SOLAR & SOCIAL EQUITY IN LOS ANGELESMadeline WanderUP 206A Midterm Presentation on February 8, 2011

Rooftop Solar Potential in Los Angeles

o Reduce tenant and owner utility costs

o Create jobs for workers in Los Angeles

o Provide a new revenue stream

Source: UCLA Luskin Center website http://luskin.ucla.edu/news/school-public-affairs/ucla-research-solar-energy-prompts-coalition-campaign-rooftop-solar

Rooftop solar has the potential to:

A Solar Feed-In Tariff Program for Los Angeles

o A Solar FiT Program would enable residents and businesses to install solar panels and sell the power generated by the panels back to the electrical grid

o The Program for Environmental & Regional Equity (PERE) is working with the UCLA Luskin Center and the LA Business Council to:

• Examine rooftop capacity of multi-family buildings

• Better understand the potential equity considerations of

this effortSource: http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=17618

Central Questions

o Where does multi-family solar potential already exist in Los Angeles, and where is solar potential clustered?

o What are the demographics of the neighborhoods surrounding potential multi-family solar sites?

o Which potential sites would maximize benefits to low-income tenants?

Westlake:

• 3.2 sq. miles• Total Pop: 122,147• Over 93% of

housing is multi-family

“System size” refers to rooftop solar capacity, measured in kilowatts.

The Hot Spot Analysis concentrates similar system sizes and highlights extremes. The analysis groups buildings with extremely large system sizes (in dark red) as well as buildings with extremely small system sizes (dark blue).

From this analysis, we are able to identify clusters of buildings with high potential solar sites, i.e. the hottest spots.

Three Components of Solar Equity Index

Solar Equity Index

Weight (for each variable)

% Renter Median Household Income Level

% People of Color

3 > 95% < $21,954 > 95%2 90 – 95% $21,955 – $24,850 90 – 95%1 75 – 89% $24,851 – $41,400 75 – 89%0 < 75% > $41,400 < 75%

Sol_Eq_Index = Renter_Cat + Inc_Cat + Race_Eth_Cat

Next Steps

o Case Study of Bonnie Brae Village

o Expand Hot Spot & Solar Equity Analyses to city (place) and county levels

o Conduct a Network Analysis to examine employment opportunities for workers trained to install rooftop solar

I used the following skills:

Creating an Inset Map Aggregating Attribute Tables Geoprocessing (Clipping, Dissolving) Hotspot Analysis Creating an Index Inserting an Image Selecting Boundary Sub-sets

Selection Method: select features fromTarget layer(s): Solar Hot SpotsSource layer: High_Solar_Equity_LayerSpatial Selection Method: Target layer(s) features are within the Source

layer feature

I used the following skills:

Selecting Attribute Sub-setsWestlake Block Group Layer – Layer: tl_2009_06_bg00_prj; "TRACTCE00“ = Insert 19 Census Tracts separated by “OR”Residential Parcels – Layer: All_Parcels_Westlake; "USE_TYPE" = 'Residential'Mulit-Family Parcels – Layer: Residential_Parcels_Westlake;

"USE_DESCRI" = 'Five or more apartments‘"USE_DESCRI" = 'Four Units (Any Combination)‘"USE_DESCRI" = 'Rooming Houses‘"USE_DESCRI" = 'Three Units (Any Combination)‘"USE_DESCRI" = 'Two Units‘

Solar Hot Spots – Layer: Solar_Hot_Spot_Analysis; "GiZScore" >= 2.58Solar Equity Hot Spots – "Sol_Eq_Ind" > 8