70% of Americans Support Solar Mandate on New Homes
December 14th, 2019 by Johnna Crider
CITE Research recently conducted a survey for Vivint Solar and found that 70% of Americans would support a nationwide mandate requiring that solar panels be installed on all newly built homes. The survey was conducted online, and 2,000 U.S. adults age 25 and up participated in the study from June 13 to 16, 2019.
Other things the survey showed were that environmental experts are the most influential when persuading people to switch to solar and politicians are the least influential. David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Solar, says, “California was the first state to pass a solar panel mandate on new homes and it goes into effect in 2020. We’ve seen that state often lead the way in establishing environmental practices nationwide.” Vivint Solar has installed more than 160,000 energy systems for residents. It is one of the nation’s largest solar installers in terms of installed solar capacity, alongside Sunrun and Tesla/SolarCity.
“With nearly a million new single-family homes built annually, if all of them took advantage of solar energy, it would be equivalent to driving 12 billion fewer miles a year or consuming 12 million fewer barrels of oil.” —David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Solar
The survey showed that the support for this measure is highest among younger adults. The most supportive age groups are the 25–34 age range, with 74% in favor. Also, support was stronger in the West (72%), followed by the Northeast, South, and Midwest in that order when it comes to strongly supporting this mandate.
When making a choice about residential solar for the good of the environment, 58% said their spouse or partner would have the most influence on their decision.
It will make you happy & help you live in peace for the rest of your life.
Apokolyptyk on February 23rd, 2020 at 22:03 UTC »
There's no way even 50% of Americans would agree to this, much less 70%. This study has flaws.
BeaversAreTasty on February 23rd, 2020 at 20:07 UTC »
As someone with solar panels, that's a terrible idea. Without the proper surrounding infrastructure, e-recycling services, and service and support networks this would be a nightmare. It is far, far more cost effective to install large solar farms at easy to service locations than spread them out on top of tens of thousands of private homes.
Totenrune on February 23rd, 2020 at 19:07 UTC »
The average cost to install solar is between $15,000 and $28,000. In 2018 the average age of the first time US homeowner was 32 years old. I understand the push for solar but it seems like raising the costs is only going to screw over the younger generations who are already hopelessly screwed in the housing market. I personally would support a tax subsidy for people who voluntarily installed them rather than a national mandate.
https://www.sofi.com/blog/average-age-to-buy-a-house/