Alternative energy - why not an executive order that every new construction have solar panels?

I’d be down for that.

I have solar panels. I am a great supporter of alternative energy. However, I don’t know that I’d want to compel builders to install them. It would depend on the building and its purpose and when people would use it. So for people who are barely home much, having solar panels would be pretty useless until we also have power storage options. There is work being done in this area, but I don’t think there is a reliable and economical storage option yet. When there is, I’ll be installing storage. At the moment, I’m lucky that any excess energy my panels produce is fed back into the grid, and I get a good rebate for that energy. However, the rebate offered now isn’t as high and not everyone can hook into the grid. There is a saturation point after which the grid can’t cope with the additional energy. So whether you can use the energy as it’s produced is an important consideration for most people.

Also, it depends on where the building is situated. If you have trees or structures blocking or throwing any shade onto the panels, you affect their efficiency. This could be as simple as a power pole or a tree throwing a line of shade across the panels.

For commercial premises, I think it’s a great idea. They usually have a large area of roof and people are using the building during the day and in an industrial estate, there are likely to be fewer trees throwing shade onto the panels.

Solar does not always make sense. It’s very location/situation dependent

I should add that it makes sense for my area. I live in Florida and most new construction is happening in former cattle fields and backfilled swamps. The first thing the development does is get rid of most of the pesky trees. After all, can’t fit 300 units into eleven acres if you’re worrying about nature.

Solar is too specific. It’s better to set a low-carbon standards and let people trade carbon credits and get ingenious about how to meet the standards.

There would be instant howls about government overreach, and the measure would be in the courts the day it was enacted. Can you imagine a Republican congress approving such a thing?

There is a lot of resistance for existing power companies to adding solar energy. Many are now trying to add a surcharge to those who do not buy ALL their power from the company.

Take a look at Google Earth. Look at all those rooftops that are being wasted. Imagine if we installed solar collectors on all the available roof spaces but, that ain’t gonna happen for a while.

The power company maintains the grid, so it’s fair to collect a fee from people who stay connected to the grid.

Many (most?) local utilities have gotten out of the power generation business anyway and make their money managing delivery and the grid.

They should extend that to rooftop solar – the utility can finance installations and install the panels. The homeowners can buy the panels or simply rent their rooftop to the utility.

Several reasons, most of which have been covered above.

But the major reason is that unless there is a health/safety reason (like providing heat or running water), the government has no right to tell anyone how they build their home and what they put into it.

The market – private industry – can do that if it sells. So if a developer wants to build an ‘all solar community” – they can do so. But the government cannot force that to happen.

As someone else said, the local utilities have a role here too. Utilities are already making it difficult for people who have solar – the utilities are charging nuisance fees to make up for the lost revenue. So any sort of mandate for solar will have to also deal with power companies and their chicanery.

But the major problem with mandating solar is geography. Solar in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico makes good sense. Vermont, Ohio, Wisconsin… not so much.

New home in the UK have to have a source of alternative heating. This can be solar or wood burning stove for example. Plus there are regulations about insulation and glazing to help reduce heat loss. In our mild to cool climate this is needed

We should let the market decide. I am no libertarian, but the cost of solar has been going down at a fairly steady pace. If this continues, it will not be long before solar energy is competitive with fossil fuel. Maybe we could speed things up by providing subsidies to solar energy providers the way we do for fossil fuel companies.

There are, or were anyway, subsidies for homeowners to install solar panels. The breakeven payoff date is down to about 10 years now I believe so it is getting more and more manageable as the technology improves and the pricing falls.

But, at least in a suburban setting, the powers that be require you to remain on the grid (and pay the fees) as a “backup”. They did give the option to sell back any excess power you generated with your panels onto (into?) the grid and you were reimbursed for it, albeit at a lower rate than what you purchased it for if you needed any. But as more and more people begin doing this the power companies seem to be throwing more and more roadblocks up to try to keep people purchasing their product; things like reducing the payback or charging solar users at higher rates than those who do not use solar.

@rojo power companies seem to be throwing more and more roadblocks up

A friend of mine who is in a construction trade has seen an increase in time for the power company to provide the necessary inspections.

@LostInParadise I’m all for the market deciding, as long as the parties in the market aren’t allowed to externalize their costs.

How many hundreds of trillions of dollars will be lost in a nightmare global climate change scenario over the next century? What’s the expense of enriching our enemies and the subsequent costs of fighting with them, treating our soldiers for PTSD for decades, lost jobs from major natural disasters, cost of heath problems from air pollution, or damage to our world’s oceans and the affect that has on the fishing industry, etc. Total that all up, and capture that in the price per gallon of heating oil, or coal-generated power plants price per kW and solar will wipe the floor with fossil fuels in a free market face-off where true costs are factored in.

That said, I live in the woods. I’m never going to cut down my trees and solar wouldn’t make sense on my roof.