“It’s officially official,” says Kelly Knutsen, director of technology advancement for the California Solar & Storage Association, referring to the California Building Standards Commission’s (CBSC) unanimous vote to confirm the solar panel mandate on new homes in California, starting in 2020. With the newly established code, California is the first state in the country to adopt the clean energy requirement. Low-rise residential buildings, including single-family homes and multifamily dwellings of three stories or less, are required to use solar for new permits dating Jan. 1, 2020, or later.
