An idea worth exploring is the new requirement in California that new homes come with solar power installed, as noted in The New York Times in May.
It’s unfortunate that we don’t have the same requirement. I see new homes being constructed in the Fircrest neighborhood, and would love to see them complete with solar roofs. Think about how, particularly in the summer, they could generate power that Clark Public Utilities could send to us in nonsolar homes, allowing us to run heat pumps, HVAC, and window-mounted air conditioners.
Better still for the homeowners, who’d see lower costs for electricity as they’d self-generate a portion of it daily, if not all their needs in a day.
Granted, such roofs would be subject to a greater expense when tree limbs come down, and would require more homeowner vigilance in keeping debris and films formed by rain and pollution from occluding the solar cells. But in the end, it is a net benefit after five to 10 years.
