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California To Become First US State Mandating Solar On New Homes (ocregister.com)
OCRegister reports that "The California Energy Commission is scheduled to vote Wednesday, May 9, on new energy standards mandating most new homes have solar panels starting in 2020." From the report: Just 15 percent to 20 percent of new single-family homes built include solar, according to Bob Raymer, technical director for the California Building Industry Association. The proposed new rules would deviate slightly from another much-heralded objective: Requiring all new homes be "net-zero," meaning they would produce enough solar power to offset all electricity and natural gas consumed over the course of a year. New thinking has made that goal obsolete, state officials say. True "zero-net-energy" homes still rely on the electric power grid at night, they explained, a time when more generating plants come online using fossil fuels to generate power. In addition to widespread adoption of solar power, the new provisions include a push to increase battery storage and increase reliance on electricity over natural gas.
I mean, solar panels are light and easily put on roofs that weren't designed to 'handle the weight.' you undermine your argument of increased cost when you stretch into the ridiculous here.
There is plenty of standards that go beyond habitability - there are rules about power, water, heating, even storage space.
Heck, in my neighborhood there are rules about requiring fencing, a minimum number and maximum height of screening plans, the paint color, the current state of your shingles, there are rules about car washing, parking large vehicles and so on and so forth.
If there was a rule about solar power it would be just an additional item on the list of things one has to do to build and own a property.
The difference is, if you don't like the rules of an HOA, you can go find a different neighborhood. If your job is in California, you can't just go find a different state.
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Solar PV Cells degrade over time expected life 20 years
No, Solar panels have a derating over 25 years.
They continue functioning just fine, but with a reduced power output.
A typical solar installation will cost about $25 per kwH per month. at $0.10 per kwH, that is the equivalent of about 20 years repayment time assuming two things: 1st, the cost of electricity does not go up over that 20 years, and 2nd, there is no subsidy on the cost of the panels.
The panels themselves will still produce 70% of their rated power after 30 years, so at some point around the 30 years mark it becomes financially beneficial to replace old solar cells, but make no mistake, over the actual life of a home, it will be cheaper to put new panels on the roof every 30 years, than it will be to pay for electricity for those 30 years, and that is assuming no government subsidies for solar power at all.
At the rate that panels are reducing in cost, and the cost of energy is rising, the subsidies for solar will be completely unnecessary in less than 10 years, maybe even as short as 5 years.
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I mean, solar panels are light and easily put on roofs that weren't designed to 'handle the weight.'
Agreed. In addition, about half the cost of rooftop solar is the installation, which should be significantly cheaper if it is done as part of the construction.
Also, the cost issue is bogus. The FHA is offering 3% down mortgages to first time buyers, at less than 6% APR, and the cost of solar can be part of the mortgage. Since solar in California (where power costs are high, and sunshine is plentiful) has an ROI of about 8%, this means the house with solar has LOWER monthly payments than the same house without.