Residential solar energy options in Colorado expanding as cost decreases

(Photo: Courtesy of Lennar)

The price of solar panels is dropping fast. In the last five years the cost has plummeted 70 percent. That’s why one of the largest homebuilders in the country is making solar power a standard part of a home.

In one example, when buyers move into homes built by Lennar, there are already solar panels on the roof. Lennar has built more than 100 subdivisions in California and there are four Lennar subdivisions in Colorado.

It's a small market despite declining costs. Lennar’s David Kaiserman says only 450,000 rooftops in America have solar panels on top. Yet he expects that number to grow quickly as the cost of solar panels decrease further -- and consumer demand increases. He believes there is a lot of opportunity to because more than 900,000 new homes are built in the United States every year.

Lennar is one of only a handful of builders in the country who are adding solar panels as a standard feature of a home.