............................................................We have it in our power to begin the world over again -Thomas Paine......................................
Two towns in California have passed laws requiring newly built homes to
install solar panels. Is mandating green energy the wave of the future?
Workers install solar panels on a roof. (Toby Talbot/AP)
On Tuesday, Sebastapol, a small town in the Sonoma Valley, become the second city in the state to pass an ordinance requiring all new buildings and additions to put up solar voltaic panels.
The
liberal town of Sebastopol has fewer than 8,000 residents and passed
the law with little controversy. Sebastopol’s ordinance orders that the
solar systems must provide 2 watts of power per square foot or offset 75
percent of the structure’s electricity use.
Farther
south, the desert city of Lancaster, California was the first city
across the country to require solar panels on new buildings. Despite the
city’s politics, which are largely conservative, the city council of
this city of 150,000 unanimously approved a change to its zoning code in
March to require housing developers to install solar voltaic systems on
newly constructed homes.
The
change was a push by the city’s mayor, Republican R. Rex Parris, to
make Lancaster the “solar capital of the universe.” According to the new code,
new homes with lots that are 7,000 sq. feet or more must have solar
panels that can produce up to 1 kilowatt of energy at any given time.
Homes in rural areas must be able to produce 1.5 kilowatts with their
systems.
The
number mandated is a small percent of the overall electricity a
household will use. And it applies only to newly built homes, not to
existing homes. But city planners in Lancaster are hoping the numbers
will eventually add up and people will install larger systems because of
the government rebates that are offered. “The intent of declaring this
minimum average was to make sure that for every new residential
development coming in there’s a certain amount of renewable energy being
created,” said a spokesperson for the Lancaster City Planning
Department.
Carrie
Cullen Hitt, senior vice president of state affairs at the Solar Energy
Industries Association says she thinks mandated solar power is a trend
that will likely grow but that people shouldn’t worry that a wave of
change will happen in their neighborhoods anytime soon.
“Will
it be rampant? Some people don’t like to be forced and mandated. I
think we will see a trend of something along these lines, but maybe not
so dramatic,” she said.
As for the benefits of solar panel laws and regulations, Hitt thinks it depends on the community.
“I
think ultimately it really depends on the city or town that you’re
talking about. If you have a constituency embracing this, then why not?”
Hitt said. “If you have a city and town that is not embracing this then
people are not going to like it and it won’t work.”
California is already a solar-power-friendly state, it’s ranked first in the country with the most solar jobs (third highest per capita) by the Solar Foundation, and has more solar workers than it has actors.
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