In the autumn, the British government will introduce new rules that will require developers to equip the vast majority of new homes in England with solar panels. "It's just common sense," Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC. He said the requirement would save a household up to £500 (around €590) a year on their energy bill.
Solar everywhere in new homes
The requirement will be part of the Future Homes Standard, a set of new standards designed to improve the energy efficiency of homes and reduce carbon emissions. A transition period is planned to give builders time to adapt.
While some buildings will benefit from exemptions—for example, when they are heavily shaded—the government's guidelines are clear: Ed Miliband wants new homes to be "almost all" equipped with solar panels. "Even if a builder cannot achieve 40% coverage [as proposed by the former Conservative government], they will still have to install panels. Except in very exceptional cases."
Currently, the legislation does not require builders to equip new homes with solar panels. A gap that the new government intends to fill.
The announcement was generally well received by industry players. The Home Builders Federation acknowledges that "two out of five new homes" already incorporate solar panels, and that the industry is "getting more and more used to them." The organization, however, calls for avoiding "red tape" that could slow down the ambitious goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2029. "If every house has to be subject to an exemption request, it will slow down delivery."
The professional organization Solar Energy UK believes that the application of the rule will be "fairly easy to enforce." Around 90% of new builds are expected to be affected. However, the sector will need to train more workers to keep pace.
The United Kingdom has embarked on a series of measures to decarbonize the residential sector, which accounted for 20% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. The country has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. A goal that the UK's Climate Advisory Committee considers unattainable without almost complete decarbonization of the housing stock.
Despite record production this year, solar still lags far behind other sources like gas or wind. But for Ed Miliband, the goal is to make solar an essential component of future housing.
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