Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Mandatory Solar Power In San Francisco?

California leads again.  This time one of its great cities, San Francisco, steps up and mandates solar, if the legislation passes, on all new building construction.  Great initiative.

This bill works on many levels:  It puts people to work; uses every new roof as real estate for clean energy;  produces renewables on a high level in a dense area, thereby improving air quality;  brings power production local which is more efficient, redundant, particularity with battery storage units in those buildings;  and sets a new milestone for progressive government zoning.

We'd love to see this copied nationally and see added legislation to require the same on roofs replaced.




San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener has introduced legislation that would require solar panels to be installed on new residential and commercial buildings constructed in the city.

If the legislation should pass, San Francisco will be the first major city in the USA where solar was mandatory on new builds.

“This legislation will activate our roofs, which are an under-utilized urban resource, to make our City more sustainable and our air cleaner,” said Senator Wiener.

“In a dense, urban environment, we need to be smart and efficient about how we maximize the use of our space to achieve goals like promoting renewable energy and improving our environment.”

California already has legislation stating 15% of roof area on new small and mid-sized buildings must be “solar ready,” – now he wants to see that roof area to actually have solar installed; either in the form of PV (photovoltaic) panels or solar hot water systems.

The proposed legislation appears to have strong support – both Mayor Ed Lee and former Mayor Gavin Newsom are both eager for San Francisco to meet 100% of its electricity requirements through renewable energy.

The former President of the San Francisco Commission on the Environment, Josh Arce, says the legislation would also create a significant number of jobs.
- See more at: http://www.renewablenow.biz/governmental-green.html#sthash.bBOTJ55L.dpuf

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