Starting January 1, 2020, California will require new homes to have solar panels. This requirement applies to new single-family and multi-family (including apartments and condos) residences of three stories or less. However, there seems to be two current exceptions to this new solar law: 1) if homeowners live in the areas where their electricity rates are lower than that of solar power’s and 2) if homes are located in dense/shady areas.

California is the first state to impose such solar requirement in an attempt to continue contributing to the clean energy movement and making new homes more energy efficient. California hopes other states would follow suit once it’ll be reinforcing and highlighting how solar truly impacts the reduction of carbon emissions.

California’s Energy Commission (CEC) estimates monthly mortgage payments will increase by $40 on an average with the addition of solar panels. However, this increase is projected to be offset by savings on utility bills, averaging $80 per month, over a 30-year lifespan of these panels. There are some more options homeowners can opt for to bring more long-term savings, such as changing to more energy-efficient windows and doors, adding battery storage and heat-pump water heaters, opting for thicker wall and attic insulation, and so forth…

Effective January 1, 2020, builders must obtain construction permits and comply to this new solar mandate. Builders also have an option of community solar systems in addition to rooftop solar panels on individual homes. Community solar system is when an installation is made available so solar can be shared among a group of homes.

The solar industry will definitely have a steady increase with installations in the upcoming months. With the solar mandatory comes an increase of workflow for the solar companies. Zero Six Media has developed a project management software just for the solar industry. You can give us a call or check out our Janus website for more info.

With this solar mandate, it will be interesting to see how many new homes will generate enough electricity from their solar panels to avoid buying it from the power grid…