Solar Panels to Be Installed on Most New Homes in England as Part of Government’s Net-Zero Goals

Nearly all newly constructed homes in the United Kingdom will be required to install rooftop solar panels under the Labour Government’s new net-zero plans.

The solar panels will need to be fitted on most new homes within two years of the start of construction, reported The Guardian.

“We have always been clear that we want solar panels on as many new homes as possible because they are a vital technology to help cut bills for families, boost our national energy security and help deliver net zero,” a government spokesperson said. “Through the Future Homes Standard we plan to maximise the installation of solar panels on new homes as part of our ambition to ensure all new homes are energy efficient, and will set out final plans in due course.”

The new policy would add roughly $4,400 to $5,300 to the cost of building a new home, but result in a savings of over $1,300 annually on homeowners’ energy bills, The Times reported.

The Labour Party has a goal of building a million-and-a-half homes before the end of the current session of Parliament, reported The Guardian. The party has pledged to reduce household energy bills by nearly $400 a year while decarbonizing the electric grid by the end of the decade.

Meanwhile, ministers are preparing to offer loans and grants funded by the government for solar panel installations on existing homes.

Sixty percent of new homes in the UK are currently not fitted with rooftop solar panels, Renewable Energy Magazine reported.

To meet the UK’s green targets, the Local Government Association (LGA) has recommended that all new homes be required to have rooftop solar panels installed. The recommendation — set out in a new report by the organization — is part of several policy and funding interventions aimed to increase retrofitting, legislative and finance changes.

The government has not specified exactly when the new solar panel requirements will come into effect, but, based on comments by officials in previous consultations, the rules could be implemented beginning in 2027 if the legislation passes this year, reported The Times.

Homebuilders who have been tasked with meeting the 1.5 million new homes target this Parliament said they expected most homes in the UK to have solar panels in the future.

“New-build homes emit on average a third of the carbon of an older property, saving owners thousands of pounds in energy bills,” said Steve Turner, executive director of the Home Builders Federation, as The Times reported. “To meet the ever more challenging carbon reductions set by the government we will see solar on the overwhelming majority of new homes, albeit it is not appropriate in every situation.”

Environmental campaigners welcomed the rooftop solar mandate for new homes.

“For too long we’ve wasted the free energy that falls on the roofs of houses every single day. Now, people living in new-build homes will save hundreds of pounds every year on their energy bills, thanks to this commonsense decision from the government,” said Lily-Rose Ellis, climate campaigner for Greenpeace UK, as reported by The Guardian.