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California Becomes First State To Mandate Solar on New Homes (bloomberg.com)
California regulators said on Wednesday they have unanimously approved a historic plan that will require most new homes in the state have rooftop solar panels that turn sunlight into electricity starting in 2020. From a report: Most new homes built after Jan. 1, 2020, will be required to include solar systems as part of energy-efficiency standards adopted Wednesday by the California Energy Commission. While that's a boost for the solar industry, critics warned that it will also drive up the cost of buying a house by almost $10,000. The move underscores how rooftop solar, once a luxury reserved for wealthy, green-leaning homeowners, is becoming a mainstream energy source, with California -- the nation's largest solar market -- paving the way.
The Golden State has long been at the vanguard of progressive energy policies, from setting energy-efficiency standards for appliances to instituting an economy-wide program to curb greenhouse gases. The housing mandate is part of Governor Jerry Brown's effort to slash carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, and offers up a playbook for other states to follow.
The Golden State has long been at the vanguard of progressive energy policies, from setting energy-efficiency standards for appliances to instituting an economy-wide program to curb greenhouse gases. The housing mandate is part of Governor Jerry Brown's effort to slash carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, and offers up a playbook for other states to follow.
The environmental cost of producing solar cells virtually negates the green benefits for many years.
The numbers I've seen show that over a 30 year lifetime, a solar panel (conservatively) results in about 10% the emission footprint when compared to coal and about 30% the footprint of natural gas. That doesn't seem terrible to me.
If California mandated that every "this will cause cancer" sign was made from a solar panel, they wouldn't need to force people to put panels on their houses.
Your "heard" anecdotes are not data. It's possible that a large solar installation could cost $30k, but a typical house isn't going to need anything like that.
My solar system, which produces enough electricity to power occasional use of A/C and daily use of an electric vehicle, cost about $18k, which included the cost of installing an EV charger. The cost of solar panels has dropped since then, although Trump's solar tariff may have balanced that out. Bear in mind that a lot of the cost for a residential installation is in planning and permitting. If included as part of the original construction, a lot of costs will be much lower.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
This reminds me of another benefit I didn't see mentioned (browsing at +X on my phone): there is an infrastructure component to this as well. Having semi self sufficient homes reduces the need for more generation facilities. And the decentralized generation may be helpful when the big one hits.