Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 1978. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 350-364).

Portable electric spas are typically the largest electrical load in homes that have one. In recent years, the California Energy Commission’s California code of regulations, Title 20 has been revised to regulate the maximum allowable standby power for a portable electric spa based on the spa volume. The goal of this regulation is to require improvements to the lowest performing models, for which simple and cost effective improvements are readily available, without eliminating average or better performing products. In this research, the standby power of twenty seven portable electric spas was measured and compared to the Title 20 requirement. These tests resulted in nine of the twenty seven spas not meeting the allowable standby power. Analysis demonstrates that simple and inexpensive improvements to these nine spas would likely cause the spas to pass the Title 20 requirement. Additionally, temperature normalization developed in this research have been adopted by the California Energy Commission and included in revisions to Title 20.

The lack of a comprehensive database for both concentrating and photovoltaic utility-scale solar power projects, those with a generation capacity of greater than 50 MW, hinders the ability of researchers and policy makers to examine the state of solar development in the state of California. This research project seeks to fill this gap in understanding by creating a database of proposed and developed projects in order to examine trends in proposals, process time, approvals, and construction starts. Existing literature was evaluated to determine potential factors for project success in approval and construction. Upon determination of these factors, the project database was developed through use of publicly available data and extensive Internet searches of planning documents, industry releases, and articles on existing and proposed projects. The completed database, containing eighty projects, was analyzed to provide an initial look at the overall state of solar project development in California. This report details these early findings as well as areas for further research. The analysis indicates that, while California has a high amount of proposed projects and generation capacity, many projects do not reach the end of the public approval process and fewer still enter construction and operation.