California’s solar mandate may not require one on every roof

CUNEYT DIL Associated Press SACRAMENTO (AP) — When California finalized the nation's first sweeping rooftop solar mandate for new construction last year, advocates pictured a utopia of all homes being built with solar panels, turning the clunky panels into the new norm to help the state achieve carbon neutrality. But those images of self-sustaining abodes may be dashed, supporters warn, if an electric utility in Sacramento wins a widely watched case on Thursday deciding how the new solar mandate will be interpreted. The mandate that took effect Jan. 1 calls for new single family houses or low-rise apartments to install solar panels. Alternately, utilities and organizations can apply to the California Energy Commission to build an offsite "community shared solar" site for buildings t