Solar Panels Law for New Homes Proposed

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband wants builders to fix solar panels to new homes to cut energy bills by hundreds of pounds for owners and renters.

Revised building control rules will make fitting the panels to most new builds compulsory in England. Only homes standing in the shade will be exempt.

The plan could save £530 a year on the energy bill of an average home, based on the current energy price cap.

Miliband said: "Solar panels can save people hundreds of pounds off their energy bills, so it is just common sense for new homes to have them fitted as standard."

Energy efficiency boost

"This marks a monumental step in unleashing this rooftop revolution as part of our Plan for Change, and means new homeowners will get lower bills with clean home-grown power."

Ministers are set to publish the Future Homes Standard in the autumn and have confirmed that solar panels will be included, leading to their installation on the majority of new-build homes.

Ministers also want to seize the opportunity to promote other energy efficiencies for new homes, like heat pumps and higher levels of energy efficiency, to cut energy bills and boost Britain's energy security with clean, home-produced power.

Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook said: "As part of the government's Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes, we are maximising the use of renewable energy to cut people's bills and power their homes.

"The Future Homes Standard will ensure new homes are modern and efficient with low-carbon heating, while our common-sense planning changes will now make it easier and cheaper for people to use heat pumps and switch to electric vehicles so they can play their part in bolstering our nation's energy security."

Climate campaigners support plans

Countryside charity The Council for the Preservation of Rural England (CPRE) and construction firm trade body the Home Builders Federation are among energy efficiency campaigners backing the strategy.

The CPRE wants the government to introduce bolder plans to combat climate change.

Spokesperson Jackie Copley said: "This is a promising sign from the government. CPRE has long campaigned for widespread rooftop solar, which would harness the potential of the UK's roofs to generate huge amounts of clean and truly sustainable energy.

"With rooftop solar, meaningful climate action does not come at the expense of a thriving and beautiful countryside. This is in contrast to mega solar farms, which damage natural landscapes and productive farmland."

Unworkable red-tape warning

"We now urge the government to go further, setting a target for generating at least 60 per cent of the UK's solar energy from rooftops, making it easier for warehouses and other industrial buildings to install rooftop solar panels, and speeding up the rollout of new grid connections."

The Home Builders Federation is cautiously in favour of the scheme, but warns that red tape could make the proposed solar panel installations unworkable.

A spokesman said 40 per cent of newly built homes have solar panels installed, helping them emit a third of the carbon of a similarly sized older home.