Listen up comrade! You WILL buy solar panels whether you like it or not.
As if housing in California isn’t already overpriced and out-of-reach enough, now there’s this hare-brained scheme. From the LA Times:
California heads toward requiring solar panels on all new houses
California is set to become the first state to require solar panels on all newly built single-family houses. The mandate is expected to save buyers money in the long run but also raise their upfront costs at a time many are already struggling to afford a mortgage.
The state’s Energy Commission is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the rules, which are expected to pass and take effect in 2020. The regulations, which would also apply to new multifamily buildings of three stories or fewer, don’t need the approval of the Legislature.
The new building standards — which also include updated insulation mandates — are a piece of California’s ambitious plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions in coming decades. That will require sweeping policy changes to promote renewable energy, electric vehicles and even denser neighborhoods where people have to drive less for daily trips.
“This is going to be a significant increase in the solar market in California,” Kelly Knutsen of the trade group California Solar & Storage Assn. said of the new requirement. “We are also sending a national message that … we are a leader in the clean energy economy.”
…
If the new rules added $9,500 to the sales price of an otherwise $530,000 home, a buyer putting 20% down would need to cough up an additional $1,900 for the down payment, according to a mortgage calculator from online brokerage Redfin.
Monthly mortgage payments would rise by $50 if the buyer took out a 30-year mortgage at 4.39% interest.
Full story here
h/t to Willis for the LA Times article
If you liked the corrupt Solyndra catastrophe, you’ll love this bought and paid for law.
The problem with their figuring is that the cost is added totally up front from the builder. When qualifying for a mortgage that cost is figured directly into the monthly PITI payment while the supposed monthly savings in electricity are not. This higher cost of the home will also increase the escrow amount required for taxes and insurance plus the minimum down payment required will be higher. And those costs are all cash out of pocket at closing. If there are any kind of recording fees or other state legal fees and taxes that are triggered by the purchase those will go up also as they are usually based on the sale price of the home and paid at closing. So lots of these smaller costs have not been figured in by those estimates of net savings.
It’s great that all California roofs will soon have to be covered by solar panels to capture all that free solar energy. Mind you, there are some sacrifices to be made such as: intermittency of power (dark is dark whether by a passing cloud or the sun steals away to another part of the world); as well as electric bills going through the roof, even now. Talk about energy poverty.
Eliminate tailpipe emissions with mandated all electric vehicles using very high cost electricity. Never mind that battery life is short, battery replacement costs are high, battery energy density is low, and that trip through the desert? Forget about it.
Of course, California’s feel good habits will still be dependent upon all the other US State’s taxpayers, paying for the “renewable” subsidies through the Federal government.
Not a sustainable business plan.
Besides the fact that this is a government mandidated expense,as a CA resident it is foolish to over depend on alternate energies for the bulk of your grid system. Every night the sun goes down and your energy stops flowing. Unless they mandidate battery backups, it will still require a large capacity from the various utility suppliers to cover the times when solar cannot meet the demand. I have solar with battery backup mostly for long term security reasons not because I figure on cutting back on CO2.
Souinds like an underhanded scheme to enrich Solar Panel corporations. Somebody got paid off big. Sneaky Demonrats.
Apparently, builders have the option of installing a solar panel array in a field rather than on the actual roof.
So, this legislation is a full out Tesla bailout… each new housing development will have its own useless solar installation with zero new homes being fitted with individual panels.
Legislated Virtue Signalling (LVS).
When I lived in CA, our house was on 1/10th of an acre. Not much field there.
Not the backyard of the house… It’s the whole development of cookie cutter homes. Instead of a playground for the kids in the new “community”, there will be a solar panel field.
unknown502756
Maybe they’ll mandate that the playgrounds are sited under the solar panels.
Whoops!…………….perhaps I should keep my mouth shut lest they read this and take it seriously.
Yeah … how is “Solar City” coming along. As my Seinfeld aficionado family members would say … it didn’t “take” … so the only option is to MANDATE it by edict of the government
The number of people living in their cars because they cannot afford the cost of housing is close to 100,000 and many municipalities allow parking in the lots of public buildings overnight to avoid clogging roads and neighborhoods. You would think that addressing this problem and the escape of the middle class would be more pressing issues. Perhaps they will require solar roofs on all vehicle purchases, new or used.
The real question is this: When will San Francisco give solar panels to all the homeless.
Summer worries over California power shortages link:http://kfgo.com/news/articles/2018/may/09/california-power-supplies-will-be-tight-this-summer-grid-operator/
CA refuses to build the NEW power plants that are needed for the people and industry (what’s left of it). Our power industry executives spend all their time (and my rate dollar) on public relations … convincing the population that they won’t burn any more people to death from poorly maintained and horrifically-located underground gas lines. And spend time virtue-signaling their “green” credentials … and lecturing consumers how NOT to consume power.
This is a higher form of virtue signalling by all involved in government, the supporting NGOs and the people who cheer this madness on. Such people are clueless as to the economic consequences of their policies. The are so blinded by good intentions that they only take notice when the money dries up. They may attempt to mitigate the flight of the Productive Class by amping up the subsidies to the 1 million foreign aliens who are residing in the state in violation of federal law. This will not end well.
Leave while you can. Something that cannot go on forever, won’t. (Steyn’s Law). This is especially true for families that have a significant proportion of their net worth tied up in their personal residence. There has never been a better time to sell and move out of the state.
As expensive and overpriced as housing in CA is, solar panels are almost a drop in the bucket.
I noticed that the law applies only to residences. Not new gas stations. Not new industries. No commercial businesses.
Yet another barrier to affordable housing. Excessive building codes and now solar requirements push the base price of a home up and homelessness along with it.
CA to the middle class: “You SOBs are not leaving fast enough. When we act like we want you to get the hell out, we mean NOW! After all, too many of you have voted for Republicans & we’ve got poor Mexicans & S Americans comming in to replace you & vote OUR way!”
Unfortunately, they move north here to Oregon, bring their votes with them, and – apparently not having learned any better – do the same damned thing here.
Pretentious #*$&$^#!!!
Joel,
Same here in the Peoples Republic of Washington state….
Seattle is a sanctuary city for California’s effluent.
Not all refugees of California that move to Oregon are liberal loons (I’m proof). Unfortunately I think a lot of the craziness in Oregon and Washington is home grown. Portland, Salem, Eugene – veritable “no go ” zones for me.
lunatic,
I understand. I worked with companies in the San Diego, LA, and Sacramento areas that made hardware for a ‘major aerospace manufacturer’. I found some like-minded folks at these places and enjoyed their professionalism and friendships. They were in the minority however. Liberal Seattle attracts socialist democrats, unfortunately, and they spread into the surrounding areas like a malignant cancer.
Yup. Problem is, these Cali refugees spread the libtard contagion. Need quaranteen.
ristvan
Same in the UK although most are so politically/socially ignorant they dont know the difference between a Capitalist and a socialist, I was forced to explain it in Janet and John terms to my neighbour the other day.
Virtually none realise that socialism is a political construct dreamed up by Marx, himself from priveledge and wealth.
None consider that mankind evolved from free trade, including conflict over it, that socialism is regressive politics ultimately leading to communism, which has been proven an abject failure.
~deep breath~
Rant over, sorry.
For a house that costs 500K, the average cost in the coastal areas, adding 10K to the cost of a house is nothing. And the savings in elect offset the extra $$ on your mortgage, so it seems like a good idea.
If it were a really good idea, why does it take the force of government to make it happen?
Death by a thousand cuts.
Regardless, the claim that the electricity generated will cover the extra mortgage cost is just another lie.
PS: They system won’t last anywhere near as long as your mortgage.
The $10K is way under the mark. Here in Arizona, the typical solar install on new construction is $18K – $20K for a 2,100 sf home. The $10K figure they give is probably just the hardware, not the installation.
It takes a twisted mind to conclude that the government forcing people to buy a product they don’t want is ‘a good idea’.
reallyskeptical
$10k for what, precisely. Solar panels that generate electricity, assuming it’s sunny enough during the day, when most people are at work?
Sell it back to the grid? That works well in the UK, doesnt it – not.
I assume you are a socialist as you dismiss $10k as a paltry sum.
Whether they last 50 years or 25 years where do you put all the waste? It will stack up nicely but ultimately there is a waste stream to consider.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/06/solar-panel-waste-environmental-threat-clean-energy/
http://www.theenergycollective.com/energybants/2407383/headed-solar-waste-crisis
same place we put old roofs.
Old roofs bio-degrade. Asphalt shingles can be recycled.
Don’t you guys have an Amendment for that? Can one take the panels off and sell them? Do you really believe they would pay for themselves at the average price of power in the US or do they only pay at ever rising power costs and carbon credits? I can see their crony capitalist buddies are excited about the business opportunity.
Gary,
The capitalists don’t want anything to do with this.
Government forcing people to buy products they do not want is crony socialism.
J Mac
Top comment!
I feel for those whose new homes do not have tile or slate roofs. Solar panels on a roof makes replacing a roof significantly more expensive, and shingled roofs do not last more than twenty years, or so, some much less.
Putting solar panels on your roof is a form of virtue signaling, so most Californians will regard such a regulation as an opportunity, and if prices drop, it will be a bargain. It is surely much better than the multicolored signs my neighbors post along their driveways proclaiming their support of a world without borders, no human is illegal, and “science” as defined by the 97% “consensus”. I live on the northwest face of a hill in the Puget Sound region, and one of my neighbors installed 20 panels on the roof of their home. From late October thru early March, no sun shines on that roof, But what a grand display of their good intentions! Are mountains and hills allowed to have northerly facing slopes in California? ? Are trees allowed to grow on those hills? What will replace solar panels as a sign of wealth and environmental concern when everyone has some? This will set off a costly competition amongst serious virtue signalers. I can’t imagine how it will end, but I’m pretty sure its real impact will be in the realm of unintended consequences.
Bob Stewart
Are you serious?
Loons with placards outside their homes with that crap on them?
FFS…………time to hit the eject button and get out of there asap mate.
Bob Stewart
Sorry, I can’t leave it at that. It’s just too funny.
You might want to point out to the ‘land without borders’ mob, that single policy is tearing the EU apart. The UK is leaving and there will be more over the coming decade or so, principally because of unrestricted borders leading to floods of poor Eastern Europeans (read former USSR satellite countries) into wealthy cities such as London and Paris, coincidentally, both subject to vicious home grown Islamic inspired terrorism.
Personally, I welcome immigration onto my home soil, but on my terms, not theirs.
I saw this story last week on another site. The comments were almost exclusively anti-mandate.
Within 24 hours the comments were purged and replaced with the following:
“Due to repeated violations of our rules and guidelines, the comments section to this article has been closed.”
I don’t see anyone mentioning the very large volume of CO2 which is emitted into the atmosphere for each solar panel. Will the panel save enough CO2 emissions in its lifetime (however long that may prove to be), or will this “carbon debt” be greater than can be paid back/
For that matter, have any of you Experts ever visited a silicon smelter where the stuff is actually make?
I have.
geologist down the pub
As far as I’m aware, the only empirical manifestation of increased atmospheric CO2 is that over the last 30 years of satellite observations, the planet has greened by 14%. Two continents the size of mainland America worth of extra vegetation according to one of the NASA scientists who conducted the research.
A sobering thought, even if you are in the pub 🙂
Perhaps we should be encouraging solar panels if what you say is true.
I doubt that Mexico, if they’re smart, would even take California back now with its present population. Too much cost and trouble even though many are apparently comfortable with dictatorship.
California provides a reliable market for the mexican drug cartels products.
Think of it as ‘vertical integration’ or ‘market capture’.
“….Listen up comrade! You WILL buy solar panels whether you like it or not….”.
Waiting for The Glorious People’s Proletarian Socialist Worker State of California to add the hammer and sickle to its state flag. Seems more and more appropriate as time goes on.
The high speed rail project just keeps getting pushed further and further into the future, with no apparent limits on its cost.
Yet, the elected officials can set a hard date on the costs to be incurred by their constituents.
That stuff wouldn’t even fly in Illinois.
I guess this means a homeowner will not be allowed to have trees taller than the edge of the roof so the shade will not reduce the electrical output. The homes in the forest will not be allowed, now will use of trees to cool the house in the Summer.
Trees. California. Yep, big problem.
It really is amazing how ignorant your average troll is.
He actually believes there aren’t many trees in CA.
This sounds like it will do for solar panel manufacturers what Obamacare did for health insurance companies – guarantee a “captive audience” of customers! What better way to make money than find a way to essentially force people to rely on your product or service?
That said, I sure am glad I no longer live in CA. I lived out there in the late 90’s and I had thought about settling down permanently, but luckily that did not come to pass.
I read a similar article about this gov’t over-reach which also mentioned them wanting to make homes electric only, and eventually get rid of natural gas. Here is the link to that article:
https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/04/california-to-become-first-u-s-state-mandating-solar-on-new-homes/
It did not say this would be mandated (at least not yet…) but what a foolish thing to do considering how fragile and over-taxed the power grid already is. Apparently the politicians and powers that be are unable to understand how much more electricity is consumed by appliances that use electric resistance to generate heat, like water heaters, electric stoves, electric dryers and electric heat (yes there are indeed some places in CA where you still need heat). All of the draw of these electric appliances will surely exceed whatever power might be generated by residential solar panels, especially at night when the sun goes down. I guess they really want their grid to crash!
Forget the electric cars – all electric appliances will surely cause every bit as much strain on the grid.
I am guessing it won’t be long before CA is akin to a third world nation right here in the US. It seems it is getting off to a good start with mass outward migration and vast tent cities…..
‘The mandate is expected to save buyers money’
So the state is doing its people a favor. Is there also money in the budget to widen the roads to Nevada and Arizona, to handle all the ingrates leaving?