Coyote Blog

So an un-elected body in the State of California has mandated that every new home in California have some number of rooftop solar panels.  I have not written on this because it is so patently stupid.  Seriously, the exact same solar mandate applies to homes in San Bernardino and Eureka (the latter has barely half the solar insolation as the former)?  A state that already has one of the worst housing affordability problems in the country is going to add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home?

I thought this was an interesting hypothesis:

Large-scale rooftop solar is only sustained by subsidies -- tax credits for installation and the requirement that homeowners can sell power to their fellow citizens (through the utility) at above-market rates. To put the matter mildly, not everybody thinks these subsidies are a good idea, and moreover you can't count on Washington to maintain subsidies for the 30 year lifespan of solar panels. You never know, someone like, say, Donald Trump might get elected president and start tearing apart energy subsidies.

So, once solar panels are on the rooftops of thousands of registered voters, you have a natural constituency that will vote and otherwise pressure the state, the administration, congress, and agencies to continue solar subsidies.