Tighter rules on the carbon footprint of new-build homes in England could likely trigger a fresh boom for residential solar.
New homes will be required to produce 31 percent less carbon dioxide than they do now, according to plans laid out this week, which will require better energy efficiency and being “heat pump ready.” In the vast majority of cases, it is expected that solar will be the most cost-effective way for homebuilders to remain below the carbon threshold.
The new rules are expected to pass into law in the spring of 2021, and they will likely begin to be applied to new building plans starting in the spring of 2022. They are the precursor to a much stricter set of regulations, the Future Homes Standard, to be implemented in 2025 and which will cut permitted emissions by 80 percent.