Following California’s new mandate requiring solar-powered systems for residential construction, Blaine Brownell highlights technologies likely to get a bump.
By Blaine Brownell | Builder
This article originally appeared on BUILDER sister site ARCHITECT.
Renewable energy recently got an unprecedented boost. On May 9, the California Energy Commission (CEC) voted unanimously to require all new homes to be solar-powered. Effective Jan. 1, 2020, the mandate will necessitate the provision of photovoltaic systems that provide 2 to 3 kilowatts of energy, depending on house size. This requirement’s modest size, about one-third to half that of a typical solar array, is presumably intended to control costs. Considering that roughly 80,000 new houses are built annually in the state, however, the subsequent demand for renewable technologies will increase dramatically. According to The New York Times, approximately 15,000 houses in California typically include solar, thus resulting in a fivefold increase in installations in less than two years.
