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Solar panels on new homes mandatory in Cali

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Solar panels on new homes will be mandatory for most new homes built in California from 2020 as per new building standards ratified by the California Energy Commission on Wednesday.

Solar panels on new homes

Solar panels on new homes - sunpower
Solar panels on new homes in California to benefit Sunpower (source: sunpower.com.au)

This move is the first in the United States which will provide a welcome boost to solar panel manufacturers and installers. According to the Australian Financial Review, California adds about 80,000 new houses per year. Currently, the California Solar & Storage Association estimates that 15,000, or almost one in five homes come with solar. The new standards are expected to increase demand for solar systems by 10-15%. 

The new mandatory solar scheme will raise the cost of a new home by nearly $10,000, according to estimates. This will mean around $40 USD per month in extra mortgage repayments which will be more than offset by a projected $80 USD saving on energy bills. 

“We cannot let Californians be in homes that are essentially the residential equivalent of gas guzzlers,” Commissioner David Hochschild said before the vote.

According to the Energy Commission, the average domestic PV solar system uses 2.5-4 kilowatts of solar panels. As per these numbers, the additional 65,000 new systems will add up to 260 MW of yearly demand in the state – this is around the same size as a large solar farm.
 
Tom Werner of SunPower, a San Jose solar company, was naturally rather excited about the prospect, telling people in an interview about his thoughts of the future of solar in the golden state: 
 
“We think it’s another example of California policy preceding what will happen in other markets,” he said.
 
According to a 2017 US Department of Energy report cited by the Energy Commission, just 9% of single family standalone homes in the state (which has 40m residents) currently have solar panels installed. This should increase that nicely, with shaded buildings or buildings with tiny roofs exempt from the new mandatory solar systems.
 
Is it only a matter of time before we see these new guidelines working in new communities alongside companies like Power Ledger, whose microgrid and blockchain technology allows for largely self-contained community solar options?
 
 

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