70% Americans Support Nationwide Solar Mandate on New Homes

A new survey has revealed that 70% of American adults would support a nationwide mandate requiring solar panels to be installed on all newly built homes.

A new survey has revealed that as many as 70 percent American adults are eager to harness solar energy as they would support a nationwide mandate requiring solar panels to be installed on all newly built homes.

The survey, conducted by CITE Research on behalf of  Vivint Solar, a leading full-service residential solar provider, also revealed significant others and environmental experts are the most influential when deciding to install residential solar for the good of the environment, while politicians are the least influential by far.

“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,” said David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Solar. “We believe more states will make strides to adopt residential solar requirements, and it’s great to see the vast majority of American adults support this, even at a nationwide mandate level. 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.”

Among those who support a nationwide solar mandate, 32% said they strongly support it and 38% said they somewhat support it, while approximately 16% said they somewhat oppose it and 14% said they strongly oppose it. While there was no significant difference in attitudes between men and women, opinions varied based on region, age group, homeowner and relationship status varied.

Results showed:

• Support for the measure is highest among younger adults and decreases with age. The most supportive group is those aged 25-34, with 74% in favour of it. This is followed by adults 35-44 (73%), 45-54 (71%), 55-64 (66%) and 65+ at 61% in favour.
• While support was strong across the country, those in the West were the most supportive with 72% in favour. This was closely followed by 71% in the Northeast, 68% in the South and 67% in the Midwest.
• When it comes to homeownership, 71% of non-homeowners support a nationwide solar mandate, with 36% saying they strongly support it. Among homeowners, 68% of them are supportive, with 29% saying they strongly support it.

Recently, we reported that in the first three months of the year, the U.S. installed 2.7 GW of solar photovoltaics (PV), making it the most solar capacity ever installed in the first quarter of any year in its history. This data comes from the new U.S. Solar Market Insight Report from Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), who have predicted that there will be a 25 percent growth in 2019 compared to 2018, as it expects more than 13 GW of installations by the end of the year.