Danny Kennedy is founder of Sungevity Solar Home Specialists, based in Oakland. He is responding to the Oct. 30 column, "Rich soak up solar subsidies."

We agree with Dan Morain's key point that low-income communities should benefit from state assistance promoting solar power. However, he missed several key points that may shed more light on California's broad-based support for putting solar on rooftops.

First, the California Solar Initiative is bringing new jobs to low-income communities. State lawmakers enacted CSI to help expand solar on rooftops to reach state renewable energy targets, as well as to create and increase local jobs via new business models. Consequently, a full quarter of all 100,000 solar jobs in America are now located in our state – and this industry grew by a full 7 percent over the last year.

This year, Sungevity has tripled its workforce at its downtown Oakland location – a success story in one of the more economically challenged cities in the Bay Area. Additionally, hundreds of people employed in small businesses throughout the state are hard at work installing our solar systems. Morain may be surprised to learn that the fastest growth of our industry is occurring in communities like Lancaster, Fresno and Visalia – far removed from "the beachfront mansions of Malibu and La Jolla."

Second, the "mundane natural gas" Morain cites as powering California's low-income communities is exactly the reason why more solar on rooftops is needed. Many of our lower-income cities have the highest pollution levels in the country, in part because of gas plants, which can be supplanted by solar.

Finally, it is important to highlight how technologies are adopted in societies. Often times wealthier consumers purchase goods before they become more affordable. That was the story of solar last decade. What's remarkable is how quickly and dramatically things have changed. Solar is now being adopted in all parts of California, thanks in large part to third-party financing.

California's solar future shines bright because of the strong support shown by the state's policymakers and ratepayers. We all should be justly proud of a growing economic sector that is creating jobs, clean energy, and pollution reduction benefits to all residents of our Golden State.

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Danny Kennedy is founder of Sungevity Solar Home Specialists, based in Oakland. He is responding to the Oct. 30 column, "Rich soak up solar subsidies."

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