You might think that ‘San’ stands for solar rather than saint. After all, three of the top five cities for residential solar installations in California thus far this year all start with San. The list, based on information from the California Solar Initiative (CSI) and compiled by SunRun and PV Solar Report, was topped out by San Jose and San Diego, with San Francisco coming in fourth in the amount of residential installations.

The top five were rounded out by Bakersfield, which was the third-largest market in California and Fresno, the fifth. The list actually encompasses the top 25 cities in California with solar rebate reservations in PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E utility territories—the largest utilities operating in the state.

“With San Jose in the number-one slot and Bakersfield, San Francisco and Fresno in the top five, the list indicates that families in Northern and Central California are setting the precedent for taking control of their electricity costs by switching to solar,” SunRun said in a press release. “In seven of these ten cities the majority of homeowners chose a lease or similar options over a cash purchase.”

Among the top cities for solar the highest percentage of lease or power-purchase agreements (PPAs) versus cash was Lancaster, according to SunRun spokesperson Susan Wise. A full 90 percent of residents chose PPAs or solar leases, like the solar power service offered by SunRun.

“After that was Bakersfield with about 79 percent,” she said.

One of the drivers for cities making the list is high electricity costs.

“Families in Fresno and Bakersfield have some of the highest electric bills in the state, so it's not surprising that more homeowners in those areas are looking for ways to save money on electricity by switching to solar," Lynn Jurich, SunRun president said in a press release.

The amount of rebates offered, however, varies by which utility services the area, Wise said. That difference and the difference between electric costs can also affect how many people are choosing to install solar.

“SunRun is seeing high demand throughout the state, with particularly strong interest in many of the top cities on the list such as Fresno and Bakersfield,” she said.

The top 10 cities, according to Wise, are based on solar sales for January 2011 through August 2011.

“So in terms of rebate reservations in CSI, San Jose is growing the fastest,” Wise said. “However, while the larger cities on the list have more solar adopters as a whole, several smaller cities have a higher concentration of solar sales per capita and per household.”