California Lancaster has every chance of becoming the first city in the United States with zero energy consumption, local authorities are sure. In the city of about 118,000 people, almost every public building, from the town hall to the baseball stadium, is powered by solar panels. And in 2013, the municipality did something unprecedented in America: it demanded that solar panels be installed on all new single-family homes.
The city council has gone even further: from this year on, all new homes should be equipped with photovoltaic cells with a capacity of 2 watts per square foot (equal to about 0.09 m 2). An alternative option is to pay a fee of $ 1.4 for the same unit of area.
The city is currently assessing the economic feasibility of the plan. The municipality has yet to obtain approval from the California Energy Commission, which deals with energy efficiency issues within the state. Lancaster is expected to settle all formalities by the end of this year. City Mayor R. Rex Parris believes the initiative will make housing more environmentally friendly and help lower costs for homeowners.
Similar measures are planned for the state; thus, by 2020, California will be able to generate 33% of its electricity from renewable resources.
