With SunPower’s solar systems, KB Home has completed its 3,000th new solar home located at the Lodge community in Eastvale, Calif. It reflects the company’s forward-thinking approach to sustainability, KB Home estimates that owners of its solar-powered homes could benefit from nearly $12 million in total energy savings over the next five years.
While the bulk of the builder’s solar-powered homes are located in California, its solar offerings extend across the country to additional KB Home communities in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Texas. KB Home has built more than 3,000 new homes powered by SunPower’s solar power systems in just three years. These high-efficiency solar panels are mounted to the roof during construction and are designed to meet most of each home’s electricity demand with clean, renewable solar power.
In addition to the significant potential energy and cost savings, according to estimates based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculations, the solar power systems installed at KB Home communities offset the production of more than 8,000 tons of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to removing 1,728 passenger vehicles from the road annually.
Howard Wenger, SunPower’s president of business units, said, “Homebuyers today value high quality, energy efficient new solar homes that increase comfort and control their energy bills,” this fact makes cooperation between SunPower and KB Home more valuable when it comes to solar and relevant energy services.
KB Home estimates that at current residential electric rates, a 1.4 kW high-efficiency PV system installed as standard with a 1,748 square-foot, ENERGY STAR® certified home at Harmony at the Lodge in Eastvale would yield average energy cost savings of US$171 per month, or approximately US$20,520 over ten years, compared to a typical resale home without these features.
(Photo: KB Home's solar homes at Whisler Ridge community in Lake Forest, CA. Credit: KB Home)
