70% of Americans Support Solar Mandate on New Homes

CITE Research recently conducted a survey for Vivint Solar and found that 70% of Americans would support a nationwide mandate requiring that solar panels be installed on all newly built homes. The survey was conducted online, and 2,000 U.S. adults age 25 and up participated in the study from June 13 to 16, 2019.

Other things the survey showed were that environmental experts are the most influential when persuading people to switch to solar and politicians are the least influential. David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Solar, says, “California was the first state to pass a solar panel mandate on new homes and it goes into effect in 2020. We’ve seen that state often lead the way in establishing environmental practices nationwide.” Vivint Solar has installed more than 160,000 energy systems for residents. It is one of the nation’s largest solar installers in terms of installed solar capacity, alongside Sunrun and Tesla/SolarCity.

“With nearly a million new single-family homes built annually, if all of them took advantage of solar energy, it would be equivalent to driving 12 billion fewer miles a year or consuming 12 million fewer barrels of oil.”

—David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Solar

The survey showed that the support for this measure is highest among younger adults. The most supportive age groups are the 25–34 age range, with 74% in favor. Also, support was stronger in the West (72%), followed by the Northeast, South, and Midwest in that order when it comes to strongly supporting this mandate.

When making a choice about residential solar for the good of the environment, 58% said their spouse or partner would have the most influence on their decision.