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California Will Be the First State to Require Solar on New Build Homes

A Wednesday vote would let the sunshine in starting 2020.

The California Energy Commission is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a new energy standard mandating solar panels on all new homes beginning in 2020. This move would be the first in the U.S. and a boon for green energy in the Golden State.

Just 15 percent to 20 percent of new single-family homes built include solar, according to Bob Raymer, technical director for the California Building Industry Association.

“California is about to take a quantum leap in energy standards,” Raymer said. “No other state in the nation mandates solar, and we are about to take that leap.”

According to the OC Register, “The proposed new rules would deviate slightly from another much-heralded objective: Requiring all new homes be ‘net-zero,’ meaning they would produce enough solar power to offset all electricity and natural gas consumed over the course of a year.

Read more here.

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