Rooftop solar panels will become mandatory in California from 2023

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has unanimously approved a bill mandating solar panels for homes under construction. According to the document, all developers in the state will be required to install photovoltaic cells in commercial buildings from 2023, according to Hi-Tech+.

The state authorities are confident that the decision will greatly affect the ecology of California - by 2050, the effect will be comparable to the annual abandonment of 2.2 million gasoline cars.

The new bill, dubbed the Energy Code of 2022, applies to all commercial buildings. This list includes hotels, offices, healthcare facilities, movie theatres, retail and grocery stores, as well as restaurants and schools. Regulators have left only two options in which construction companies can avoid installing solar panels - in the construction of residential buildings and special government agencies.

The CEC proposal also encourages the use of electric heat pumps for space heating and plumbing, the use of battery packs and the installation of chargers for electric vehicles. The ultimate goal of the commission is simple - to shut off all buildings in the state from natural gas and switch to renewable energy entirely by 2050.

“The 2022 Energy Code is strongly aligning California's buildings with clean, low-carbon technologies that will be the foundation of our shared journey into the future. This project will help the state achieve its critical long-term climate and carbon neutrality goals,” said CEC Chief Commissioner J. Andrew McAllister.

The commission provided data on the basis of which a new bill was developed. The regulator estimates that homes and businesses use nearly 70% of California's electricity and are responsible for a quarter of the state's CO2 emissions. The new plan will cut consumer spending by $ 1.5 billion and cut CO2 emissions by 10 million metric tons over 30 years.

The bill has now been submitted to the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC). The latter will consider it in December 2021. If approved by the CBSC, the law will enter into force on January 1, 2023. Developers and their contractors associated with development will receive exactly one year to prepare for work in the new conditions.

As reported, three European countries will install home solar power plants thanks to a grant from Google.