Cal Watchdog: California regulators on Wednesday approved a first-in-the-nation plan to mandate the installation of solar panels on all new homes beginning in 2020.
The move was approved with a 5-0 vote by the California Energy Commission, in what supporters of solar energy are hailing as a monumental moment.
“This is an undeniably historic decision for the state and the U.S.,” Abigail Ross Hopper, the Solar Energy Industries Association’s CEO said in a statement. “California has long been our nation’s biggest solar champion … now, California is taking bold leadership again, recognizing that solar should be as commonplace as the front door that welcomes you home.”
The regulation will go into effect once it receives its expected approval by the Building Standards Commission later this month. more
$1,000,000 homes just became $1,050,000 homes.
The grid is not yet prepared to handle Solar – it needs to be phased in over time. California is stupider and corrupt, it can’t handle solar either.
California home prices will rise an average of $12,000 and energy prices will increase further.
Here’s another problem:
– Too many people using solar create a surplus of power down at the electric factory. The electric factory has to now pay other electric factories in other states to take this surplus power. The electric factory raises rates since they now have increased costs associated with dumping the surplus power.
– Solar power is great when the sun shines, hence the name solar. If the sun hides away, like during this dark period called “night”, the solar homes need power from the electric factory. This causes a wave of power demand from the electric factory, who now have to maintain / upgrade equipment to handle the frequent stop/start load waves. Since they have fewer paying customers most of the time, they will require increased rates to cover the maintenance costs.
Basically, Californians will help reduce electricity rates in neighboring states by paying them to take California power. These states then use less of their own resources, reducing their costs even further.
They going full retard stoopid. 🤪 Reboot approved. 👍
Insurance will be ridiculous. Wait for the lax building codes also and shit installs.
If solar were worth the cost of buying, installing and maintaining the panels, more people would have done it. But it’s not – you would have to remain in your house for a long term before you break even, and even then the period of net savings are relatively short because the panels deteriorate. I did look at solar, I ran the numbers, and it didn’t work.
Consumers also need to factor in that most residential energy use is actually at night. SoCal has a large percentage of two parents working, so during the day there is little electricity used. Particularly in winter, when days are short, electrical demand at night is much higher.
This regulation is a kick back to the solar power industry. Solar panels are not something most homeowners would buy because it doesn’t pencil out for them, so the government forces home builders to front load these things so the homeowner has no choice. This regulation is nothing more than liberals rewarding their buddies in an industry that provides little to no benefit to homeowners.
@Wyatt, Insensitive Progressive Jerk May 20, 2018 at 3:15 am
> that provides little to no benefit to homeowners
The selfless toil of the best government other people’s money can buy should never be discounted.
Come ON PEOPLE!
The state-mandated remote control of your thermostat a few years ago, the gizmo is required in all new construction. The purpose is to cut back your electricity when the state says so.
People of California, you, your kids, your parents, your home, have been owned for so long you should already be used to having no privacy and no choice.
It’s part of the CA “Green Energy Grifting and Full Employment Act.”
Follow the money.
Who has the greater profit potential?
I guarantee – GURAN-FUKKIN-TEE – there’s someone connected to the “green” energy scam behind this. Someone who’s made donations to the Demonrat Partei or the usurper Brown.
izlamo delenda est …
since it’s only for new homes how long before it actually makes an impact on the grid ?
since everyone is moving out of california how many new homes will be built ?
nothing but a big virtue signal….
“The California Energy Commission”??
They can mandate property expropriation with unconstitutional regulation requirements?
I call bs This regulation is unenforceable.
I am in insurance. I can only guess, but would guess at least a 25% increase in rates.
Forget the rate increases for those who don’t or can’t have solar. Because utilities are guaranteed a certain return on their investment the rest of us are charged more to offset glamor houses. Then there’s roof replacement and repairs which require removal of solar systems (in the thousands of dollars) and the systems that are deemed outdated and must be upgraded to newer equipment. Need I go on?
If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.
If it has to be subsidized it is not a better mousetrap.
Something here does not add up.
How the hell can ‘surplus power’ cause rates to go up?
Surplus power should cause rates to go down.
Liberal Pap writ large as Policy
I suspect that Elon Musk along with the likes of Tom Steyer (two of the worst crooks in the green energy scam) were handing money out to the elected reps and will continue to make donations to super PACS that help these corrupted elected officials remain in office making themselves rich. As mentioned earlier somehow people need to track the long term spending of these corrupted officials to see the bribes taking place.
The govt. forcing you to buy something you don’t want?
Nawww, can’t happen.
TREE HUGERS! The reason gas has gone up 5,000% (from $0.119 $4.129)in 44 years is TREE HUGGER LAWS. Home prices have skyrocketed for the same reason (local homes cost 2,900% today more than when I bought!). This is more of the same. Lawyers will get rich, judges will have great pensions and “the little people” will be homeless! Great for the “elite”; very bad for the middle classes!
Again the GOP left pretends to be opposed. Again they do not fight!
It is my opinion they don’t fight because they are in fact progressives. Some liberal GOPe say they are just cowards. Even the “Coward of the County” eventually breaks bones! None of these GOPe guys has bloodied the nose of a Dem!
“Surplus Power” is like “Extra Money” or an “Extra Cigarette.”
Not so much a chimera as a lie.
160 W/sq. meter (on average) – THAT’s IT! No technology can change that. No amount of wishful thinking can change that. No amount of ideological purity can change that. The sunshine you don’t use right now isn’t gonna be there at midnight. Just like the water rolling down the river – what you don’t use just rolls on into the ocean – it doesn’t wait for you.
(yeah, I know about batteries and reservoirs)
“People … people who’re green people … are the dumbest fucking people … in the worrrrrrlllllldddddddd.”
izlamo delenda est …
Are they also going to mandate the price of insurance to keep rates at current levels? Because everyone I know who has solar panels say their insurance jumped sky high because the panels can interfere with firefighters should the house catch fire.
Elon Musk owns one of the few solar companies in CA….He’s shaking CA down for money for his hole in the ground under LAX … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SolarCity
@Peter – I was going to mention that. Insurance goes up because the home will probably be a total loss. Firefighters don’t want to be spraying water into a LIVE electrical source, and they won’t walk on your roof if they’d get electrocuted. In either case, they may protect the neighbor’s house, but they’re gonna let your house burn to the ground.
Oh, it’s just for new houses now; but the next step is to mandate it for existing houses at change of ownership.