Beginning in the year 2020, all new construction homes in the state of California will be required to include solar panels for energy production. This is a bold move by the state, as building new homes with solar panels will obviously increase the cost of a new home and add additional stress to new home builders. The upside? Long term positive gains, both financial and environmental, far outweigh the inconvenient additional upfront cost to new home builders.
With California already firmly solidified as the nation’s top solar energy producer (21+ Gigawatts installed currently), the new legislature will push California even further into the leadership role they’ve already carved out in solar energy adoption. This push for solar power has created almost 90,000 jobs, as well as over 40 billion (with a B) in new investment into the state’s economy. Once this new requirement policy is active, we expect each of the above mentioned numbers to grow exponentially. California already produces 40% of United States’ solar energy, once 2021 rolls around they could be even further out in front. We hope to see other large sunny states like Arizona, Texas and Florida try to catch up.
