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Should all new homes in Canada come with solar? — Hello, Earthlings! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sus...

Hello, Earthlings! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world.Keep up with the latest news on ourClimate and Environment page.

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This week:

With efforts tobuy Canadiansurging, I wanted to dig into what kind of domestic options there are for a booming energy industry: solar panels.

Leaders of afew major Canadian solar companies were clear: Canada has not created the conditions necessary to support a domestic solar panel manufacturing industry.

While solar energy has a growing future in the country, Canada had largely ceded the making of the panels themselves to countries in Asia, they said.

"Our supply chain in Canada is not healthy enough, it's not built up yet. I can't find solar cells manufactured here, in Canada," said Katherine Zhou, founder of Ontario-based PV Technical Services, a specialty maker of roof shingles that double up as solar panels.

But Zhou also told me that Canada has a potential market, because of the amount of construction happening in this country. Anyone living in major cities like Toronto or Vancouver is used to the giant construction sites that seem to appear every few blocks, not to mention new subdivisions growing at the urban edges.

What if all those (desperately needed) new homes came with solar panels by default?

"If we build all these thousands of houses like our prime minister is saying, which is a good thing I think, then at the same time we should make sure we make them energy efficient with solar panels," said Andreas Athienitis, director of theCentre for Zero Energy Building Studiesat Concordia University in Montreal.

"Let's do it right the first time."

During the federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Mark Carneyproposed a planto build half a million new homes in Canada per year. A big part of the plan is directing financing to prefabricated housing builders and making bulk orders of housing units from such builders to create demand and sustain the industry. It doesn't mention solar panels.

Adding solar requirements to new housing units  could be the kind of mass demand that Zhou and others are saying is needed for boosting the solar industry at home. And it's an idea that will reportedly be tried soon across the pond in the U.K.

The U.K. government is set to announce that nearly all new homes in England willrequire solar panelsto be installed on them starting in 2027, according to media reports, as part of the Labour government's plans to decarbonize the electricity grid by 2030. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who won a landslide election victory last year, has said the U.K. has tofocusboth on cutting carbon emissions as well as shoring up energy security.

And it could be a useful buffer against rising temperatures, which are increasingly causing dangerous heatwaves in cities. Anew studyfrom researchers at the University of Guelph found that adding urban trees and putting rooftop solar panels on all buildings was an ideal climate adaptation measure. The solar panels could produce enough energy to meet the rising demand from air conditioning.

Of course, requiring solar panels would add to the cost of new homes.

California hasmandatedall new homes built in the state to have a solar panel setup since 2020. In 2018, the state's energy regulatorestimatedthat the requirement would add about $13,125 to the price of a new home. Over the course of a typical mortgage, that worked out to about $55 in extra payments per month.

What if we put solar panels on every roof in the world?

It makes financial sense to put panels on new homes, according to John Gamble, president of Modular Energy Solution in Niagara Falls, Ont., because it can be bundled into a mortgage.

"When you have a new house and you have a mortgage on the new house, you can spread the cost … for the solar battery system out over 25 years," he said.

In Ontario, a 7.5 kilowatt solar set upcostsroughly $25,000. Gamble said that if it's not rolled into a mortgage, that could cost $400 or more in monthly payments on a shorter-term five year loan, which is a tougher sell.

Solar panels on homes can also help the entire grid, especially in regions like southern Ontario with a lot of energy demand from large manufacturing and industrial plants. If homes can produce their own energy, more electricity can be directed to power-hungry industries.

"The government has talked about putting in more nuclear facilities and more ways of creating power, but that takes time," Gamble pointed out.

"The beauty with solar and batteries is we have those today. The solution can happen today overnight."

— Inayat Singh

Old issues ofWhat on Earth?arehere. The CBC News climate page ishere.

Check out our podcast and radio show.In our newest episode:Pattie Gonia proves why climate action is a total drag, in the most fabulous way possible. From going viral for hiking in high heels, to performing a climate anthem with acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Alaskan Indigenous artist Quinn Christopherson, Wyn Wylie (the artist behind Pattie Gonia) is on a mission to bring some joy to the fight to protect the planet – and show that 2SLGBTQ+ people are vital to the quest for climate solutions.

What On Earthdrops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday. You can find them on your favourite podcast app or on demand atCBC Listen. The radio show airs Sundays at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Have a compelling personal story about climate change you want to share with CBC News?Pitch a First Person column here.

Last week, Nicole Mortillaro wrote aboutwhy many landlords don't make apartments greener for tenants, and what tenants can do.

Hillary Hoppsresponded: "I am a renter. I would love to see clotheslines set up. There is lots of space out back of my building and in a previous building I was living in a few years ago.  As it is, I never use the clothes dryer, I hang my laundry on racks and they dry overnight as my apartment is hot. I am always hot so never turn on the heat in winter however the reverse is true in summer. I just about die from heat so I have to use a portable AC since there isn't Central Air. The one summer where the building I rented in had it, I actually liked summer.  I use a baking (toaster) oven but one thing most people who don't rent do not realize is that there isn't much counter space in most apartment kitchens."

We also featured an articlelast weekon a growing interest in fur, thanks in part to vintage shoppers concerned about sustainability.Ivy Greyexpressed concern about this "given the climate, public health, and animal welfare risks involved," she wrote, sharing details through a link to the web page ofFashion Collective Justice, a group focused on reducing harm to the planet, people and animals from fashion. "Canada has made commendable strides in promoting truly sustainable and ethical fashion alternatives, including plant-based, recycled, and innovative biodegradable materials," she wrote. "There are so many amazing real sustainability innovators in our country that I was shocked to see fur — of all things — highlighted!"

Write us atwhatonearth@cbc.ca. (And feel free to send photos, too!)

One of the challenges of owning an electric car is finding a place to charge. California-basedAptera Motorssays that's something drivers of its vehicle will rarely have to worry about. Aptera's three-wheeled two-seater passenger car is designed to travel up to 64 kilometres per day powered by the car's 700 watts of solar panels (although you can plug it into a charger to get another 640 kilometres if you plan to travel farther). The company says it aims to begin low-volume production later this year in Carlsbad, Calif., and produce up to 20,000 cars annually by 2027.

Meanwhile, two other companies have cancelled their development of solar cars targeted at consumers. Dutch firm Lightyear is now trying to focus onmaking solar charging available to the entire automotive industry. German startup Sono Motorscancelled its solar powered Sion crossover in 2023to focus onsolar kits for all kinds of vehicles, from trucks to buses to RVs.

— Emily Chung

As U.S. President Donald Trump fires climate scientists and orders removal of climate-related reports from government websites, some of the disappearing climate data is being saved throughuploads to a Canadian database hosted at McGill University.

In a Detroit neighbourhood described as "blighted," two non-profits are planting seedling clones of giant California redwood trees.Here's why they think that will be good for local residents and the trees, given Detroit's current and future climate.

Ever wonder why it smells a certain way after it rains, and why your clothing has that outdoor smell after you've been outside?The Washington Post looks into where that scent comes from.

Researchers at Princeton University found thatpresenting data in a binary helps break through climate apathy. They tested reactions to graphs showing the same trends in different ways — for example, winter temperatures rising over time, versus years the lake froze or didn't. Clear, concrete shifts, rather than slow-moving trends, were found to be significantly more impactful.

How does Avalon Mall keep tonnes of food court waste out of the landfill? Hold your nose and see

Every day, shoppers at the Avalon Mall food court in St. John's leave piles of food waste behind. There's no organic waste processing in Newfoundland and Labrador, but the province's biggest mall found a way to keep it out of the landfill — with the province's biggest industrial composter. From start to finish, see how diners' food scraps are collected and processed into tonnes of compost for local farms.

Thanks for reading. If you have questions, criticisms or story tips, please send them towhatonearth@cbc.ca.

What on Earth? comes straightto your inbox every Thursday.

Editors:Emily Chung and Hannah Hoag | Logo design: Sködt McNalty

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