California has a law in place requiring that 50% of all electricity be from non-carbon-emitting sources by 2030. Now, its Energy Commission has decided all new homes and apartment buildings built after 2019 must have solar panels. Critics complain this mandatory solar power plan will add $8,000 to $12,000 to a home’s cost. However, this is only half the story.
The Mandatory Solar Power Will Make Profit Immediately
The California Energy Commission concedes its mandatory solar power plan will add an average $40 to monthly mortgage payments. However, it predicts a direct average monthly saving of $80 on heating, cooling and lighting costs per month. So overall, everybody should be better off.
While the California Energy Commission decision was unanimous, the Building Standards Commission will only authorize it later this year. This seems a given, because the Commission has been working closely with the California Building Industry Association according ABC News as quoted by the BBC. We may need to rechristen the Golden State as the Golden Solar State anytime soon.
The Nuts and Bolts of How California Homes Will Go Solar
The California mandatory solar power policy is flexible. Builders may add solar panels to individual homes, or build shared power systems for groups of homes.
The authorities will allow exceptions where the policy is impractical. This could be where the scheme is not cost effective, owing homes being under shade.
There are no indications of the California Energy Commission backdating this decision to homes built before 2020. However, as global warming bites, we imagine that could change. The state is already America’s leader with 16% of electricity from solar in 2017.
The Public Utilities Commission believes California will meet the 2030 target by 2020. “There’s also this real American sense of freedom of producing electricity on my rooftop,” a co-founder of a solar company said. “And it’s another example of California leading the way.”
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