Solar Homes Popular in Southern California

KB Homes, one of the largest homebuilders in the U.S., is expanding its solar program in Southern California due to the program’s great popularity there. Solar power systems from SunPower will now be included in almost all of its Southern California communities.

KB notes at least one reason why its solar home options are so popular (an obvious one to CleanTechnica readers, but worth repeating) — the solar power systems “can help KB homeowners reduce their monthly energy bills by as much as 80% and lower their cost of homeownership for years to come.”

“Consumers who buy a Built to Order™ KB home get the value of a custom home-like experience plus the tremendous energy efficiency of our latest advanced building techniques. And now, having solar included is like having the sun help pay their energy bills,” said Jeffrey Mezger, president and chief executive officer of KB Home. Fun phrasing there; interesting way to think about it — the sun is actually paying your electric bill!

Of course, for each home design option they offer customers, they show the electricity savings involved. Example:

“… at KB Home’s Newbury at the Enclave in Eastvale, Calif., a one-story, four bedroom home without a solar power system has an estimated monthly electric and gas bill of $108. With the expansion of KB Home’s solar power initiative, this home will now include a 3.15 kWp system as a standard feature and the estimated monthly electric and gas bill will be $27. Compared to a typical resale home, this new KB home is estimated to save a homeowner about $2,000 annually on energy costs.”

KB Homes started its solar offers in March 2011. At that time, 1.4 kWp SunPower systems were offered in 10 of its communities. Now, the smallest standard solar power option is 1.8 kWp, 28 communities are in the program, and over half of them include a 2.25 kWp or 3.15 kWp SunPower system as standard.