Should Solar be Mandatory?

How long before solar PV is mandatory on new homes?

According to the latest statistics from the Housing Industry of Australia (HIA) it is anticipated that there will have been 135,390 detached dwellings started nationally in 2020/21. This represents a growth of 32.5 per cent over the previous financial year and is a record for the number of new builds started in a 12-month period. 

According to the Clean Energy Council, “there were 378,451 rooftop solar installations in 2020 which was the most installations in the industry’s history. Almost 3 million households now enjoy the benefits of roof top solar.” 

So, we are building a lot of new homes and we are realising the benefits of clean energy-generating solar PV, supported by government rebates for new homes and solar panels. As Australia seeks to reverse the effects of climate change, do we need to do more?  

 As Matt Kean MP, NSW Minister for Energy and Environment recently posted on his LinkedIn page, “We need a new brand of politics if we are going to tackle the challenge of climate change. We need to end the pointless culture wars and the politics of division and start finding common ground and building coalitions that want to put the nation’s interests first. There is still time to protect our planet whilst growing our prosperity, but business as usual from the political class is not an option.”

In 2020, California became the first state in the US to require solar panels on roofs of most new homes – a first for the nation. In an effort to source 100% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources, the government mandated that solar panels be installed on all new residential buildings with three or fewer floors.  The solar mandate is expected to increase the cost of a new home by $10,000 USD, which officials say will be offset by lower electricity bills over time. 

While Australia’s abundance of sunshine has prompted many homeowners to lead the world in harnessing solar energy for economic and environmental reasons, our political debate is seriously lagging.  The government insists on a technological answer to meeting our climate change goals, yet most of our solar technology is imported and rebates will only get us so far. 

Innovation in the solar industry is coming rapidly to batteries, integrated panels, energy management software and even regulations.  Like mandating rainwater tanks to conserve precious water resources, isn’t it time we tighten energy conservation codes to reduce our dependence on coal and meet environmental targets?  Encouraging a discussion on mandating solar where it makes sense will increase awareness, encourage research and generate innovative options.  It may even lead us down the path of making solar mandatory for new buildings and roofs.  It seems to make sense to so many homeowners who choose to retrofit solar solutions, you would have to think most new home buyers would be prepared to pay a tiny bit extra to reduce energy costs and impact on the environment forever.  Builders, on the other hand, see cost rather than value at this point, so perhaps it is time to talk about changing that equation, like others in California and the UK have already done.