Dive Brief:
-
Big builder Lennar is installing solar panels as a standard feature on thousands of new homes in California, Colorado, and Nevada.
-
The second-largest homebuilder allows homeowners to purchase the feature—which is not optional—or rent it from a Lennar subsidiary and buy the power their homes' panels produce for 20% cheaper than they could buy it from the local electric company. Homeowners still buy some of their electricity from a utility when their panels don’t produce enough.
-
At least two other builders—KB Home and Meritage Homes—also are installing panels on new homes, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. Those builders allow homeowners to buy the equipment or work with a third-party installer/operator.
Dive Insight:
It’s cheaper to install solar panels, which cost $10,000 to $20,000, during construction of a new home than it is to add them later, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. So as more homebuilders build houses with solar panels, the use of solar energy to generate some or all of a home’s electricity could increase greatly.