Rooftop solar is perfect. The lack of a full, east/west ultra high voltage transmission line to connect markets......like the one China is building out, is the issue. Once a grid is connecting time zones, rather than "regions" then the whole peak demand thing, just goes away, add batteries in the gaps, and for remaining peak clipping, and then averages start to become much closer to real world demand.

That doesn't solve the cost issue. Rooftop is at least 10X as expensive as plopping down panels on flat land, even before taking into account the efficiency of doing it in a desert vs rainy SF.

Same for home battery storage. A Powerwall ~$1000/kwh, grid storage is $250/kwh and can actually stabilize the grid.

Incentivizing it is a massive waste of public money. It is mandating citizens spend $1, when a commercial operation can do it for 10 cents.

The problem is the regulatory environment, not the technology.

Battery costs are dropping below 50$/kWh in China and will drop to 30$/kWh in a few years.

Distributed solar and storage is already economic the issue is the utilities and grid operators have captured the regulatory framework.

See Australia for an example of what California could be at 1/10th the cost.

agreed. Legally requiring home builders to include rooftop solar, and providing tax rebates doesn't address the fundamental challenges. In fact, it makes it worse.