People wanting to buy a new home in California face an additional upfront expense: Solar panels. How does that affect home prices? We’re taking a look at properties with solar panels for our regular real estate segment.

For some background, the California Energy Commission voted unanimously in 2018 to adopt new energy efficiency standards, including solar panels, and the rules went into effect Jan. 1, 2020.

Then, last month, the panel voted to require solar on some new commercial buildings and residential high-rises, as well as create additional energy efficiency standards for single-family homes.

Energy and building experts are worried these new requirements will drive up construction costs, but the commission said any increase would be minor, according to the New York Times. The state Building Standards Commission must still approve the new standards at a meeting in December, after which the rules would go into effect Jan. 1, 2023.

This segment aired Sept. 1, 2021, as part of the weekly 5 Live segment “California Living,” where Samantha Cortese quizzes Andy, Bobby, Robert and the viewers on real estate throughout Southern California.