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California Rooftop Solar Mandate to Boost Sales 14 Percent Over 4 Years

Jason RothmanMay 18, 2018 1480 0

Residential solar in California is taking off

California solar is about to take off

California is about to kick-start growth in the solar industry.

After making news last week that California will require all new homes be fitted with solar panels starting in 2020, the studies have come back. 

According to GTM Research, the move is going to account for a 14 percent growth alone from 2020 to 2023. 

The California Energy Commission approved the proposal on May 9, as part of an update to the state’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards. Starting in 2020, the codes will apply to all new residences on buildings under three stories. That includes townhomes, condos, apartments, as well as single-family homes.
 

Big boost to residential solar sales

For the U.S. solar industry, the new standards are expected to boost residential solar sales 14 percent over a four-year timeframe from 2020 through 2023, according to a new analysis from GTM Research. That's an upside of nearly 650 megawatts (DC) compared to GTM's base-case forecast for the residential solar segment.

The industry is set to grow more than that. It is just that the solar industry is going to get an automatic boost just so they can put solar panels on all the new homes being built in the state. The mandate starts in 2020 and the numbers will jump when everything starts Jan 1, 2020.

It is important to note that this forecast only includes solar on new single-family homes, whereas per the new code the California Energy Commission (CEC) has mandated solar for every new residential unit, including apartments and condominiums.
 

Community solar will take up the slack

In fact, new single-family homes represented only slightly more than half the new units built in 2017, meaning that the mandate could result in hundreds of megawatts of solar each year in addition to that included in this forecast update. Put another way, California already adds solar to more than 100,000 projects a year, without counting new homes. That means that there might be a lot more growth in the industry than 14 percent. Even GTM research admits that the data is hard to find, so there is not a lot of concrete data showing how much this new mandate will influence growth in the industry.

The code does provide some flexibility to meet this requirement using community solar, so it is probable that this additional solar will be a mix of larger rooftop systems and community solar. 

It is hard to say how much this will shake up the industry. No one really knows how much it will cause prices to drop, or how many solar installations will grow overall in the state. The one thing that everybody can agree on is that this move is good for the state as well as the country.
 

Fear of missing out on solar power

It’s called the fear of missing out. As more people enjoy solar power, it will increase the likeliness that others will join. 

When electricity first came to people through the grid, some people preferred to stay with the times and used candles, but eventually, they plugged in. Even though solar is more popular than ever, there are plenty of people who don’t want it.

But those numbers are shrinking every day. Eventually, when renewable electricity generation becomes the norm, it is the people who are dependent on oil and coal who will be behind the times. Eventually, they will join the solar revolution.

You don’t have to wait until 2020 to get solar on your home. If you start today, you can be well on your way to energy independence before 2020. Visit HahaSmart and try out our Price Checker Tool yourself and you can not only see how much a solar panel system would cost in your area, but you can see how much you would save in the next 20 years in electricity costs. 

For information relating to going solar don’t forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.

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