The first US city to require solar rooftops
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Building a Secure Energy Future Demands Bold Innovation
In March 2013, The Lancaster, California City Council unanimously approved changes to the city’s zoning code that require housing developers to install solar with every new home they build. Lancaster’s now official Residential Zones Update specifies, along with a range of green building provisions, that new single family homes meet minimum solar system requirements in the same way that they must meet minimum parking space requirements. Residential homes on lots of 7,000 square feet or more must have a solar system of 1.0 kilowatts to 1.5 kilowatts. Rural residential homes of up to 100,000 square feet must have a system of at least 1.5 kilowatts.
“Lancaster, CA is the first US city to require solar systems on rooftops” said Alexandre Pavlovski, CEO of Green Power Labs Inc. “This is a bold, innovative move by the Lancaster City Council” Pavlovski added “and at Green Power Labs we have been working with other innovative communities to design not only solar friendly homes – but solar friendly subdivisions and communities”. One example is the proposed athletes’ village for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Combining design technology with Green Power Labs’ capacity to detect changes in solar resource as a result of these urban design features, the architectural team was able to build a virtual community to maximize the capacity of that community to harvest solar energy.
“We see community energy planning as critically important to build secure and resilient communities and we are pleased to work with energy leaders to accomplish their community energy objectives.” Find out if your rooftop is solar friendly at www.solarrating.ca
