May 24, 2016 | By RGR Marketing Blog

San Francisco Lights the Way

San Francisco has been the epicenter of more cultural phenomena than most cities – the Gold Rush of 1849, the Summer of Love in 1967, and the Gay Rights movement that started in the 1970s, just to name a few.

Now, this forward-thinking city is directing its considerable clout toward a new movement: the push for solar energy.

Solar Is a Must for New Buildings

Back in April of 2016, the Golden Gate City passed a law requiring all new buildings under 10 stories tall to be equipped with rooftop solar panels or solar water panels. While similar laws have been enacted elsewhere (Paris, Haryana, India), San Francisco is the first major city in the United States to require solar panels on new construction.

Dubbed the “Better Roofs Ordinance,” the law is part of a big-picture goal to source 100% of the city’s electricity from renewable sources. In 2011, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom created a renewable energy task force to develop recommendations to help the city meet this goal by 2020. Members of the Board of Supervisors are all on board – they voted unanimously to pass the ordinance.

There’s Plenty of Room for Solar

The law dovetails neatly with existing California regulations, which already required 15% of available rooftop space to be un-shaded and solar-ready on buildings less than 10 stories high. The extant law laid the groundwork; now the new law will turn intention into action, making excellent use of the space already reserved for solar generation.

San Francisco Can’t Afford Rising Sea Levels

The language of the bill recognizes San Francisco’s vested interest in helping to combat climate change, stating, "As a coastal city located on the tip of a peninsula, San Francisco is vulnerable to sea level rise, and human activities releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere cause increases in worldwide average temperature, which contribute to the melting of glaciers and thermal expansion of ocean water — resulting in rising sea levels.”

A Victory for Solar Advocates

Reaction to the new law has been largely positive. Solar and environmental advocates (including two former city environment commissioners) have praised the ordinance for its proactive approach to sustainability. Real estate developers are less enthusiastic, claiming that the new requirements add to an already onerous list of boxes to check when erecting new buildings in San Francisco.

In SF, the Law Is on Your Side

As a solar installer, you probably side with the pro-solar side of the argument. After all, solar energy is one of the best tools at our disposal for fighting climate change and providing for a sustainable future.

And if you’re a solar installer in the Bay Area, this new law is great news for you. Hopefully, similar laws will be passed in other major cities. We won’t hold our breath for that happening any time soon in places like Dallas, Texas, but we wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if say, Los Angeles, New York, or Miami got on board. That would give solar revolution a ton of extra momentum.

It already has plenty, but the sooner we ditch fossil fuels, the better off we’ll be.

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