Almost every new home built in England will be fitted with solar panels by 2027 as part of the Government’s net zero push.
Under the plans, housebuilders will be legally required to install the panels that convert sunlight into electricity on the roofs of new properties.
It is estimated it will add between £3,000 and £4,000 to the cost of building a house, the Times reported.
However, homeowners are expected to save around £1,000 on their annual energy bills.
Government-funded loans and grants to cover some of the costs of installing solar panels on existing homes are also reportedly being prepared.
Before coming to government, Labour set a target of building 1.5million homes by the end of this parliament, promised to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 and cut household energy bills by £300 a year.
The latest move is a sign that ministers will press ahead with the net zero agenda. It comes after Sir Keir Starmer this week rejected criticisms of his climate policy from Sir Tony Blair.
Just days before the local elections, the former Labour prime minister argued the climate change debate had become "irrational" and people in rich countries no longer wanted to make financial sacrifices "when they know that their impact on global emissions is minimal".
The comments were seized on by opposition parties as an attack on Sir Keir's plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the UK by 2050.
The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) issued a clarifying statement on Wednesday morning saying it believed the net zero policy was “the right one”.
But some unions have echoed the criticism of climate policies.
General secretary of Unite, Sharon Graham, said workers should not be thrown “on the scrapheap” in the pursuit of agenda.
“The problem is that the jobs part of this is not being discussed, Ms Graham told Times Radio on Thursday.
“The [Grangemouth] refinery [in Scotland] stopped processing crude oil this week.”
She added: “Workers want net zero, my members have no problem with net zero. The problem that we’ve got is that there is no investment currently about how we get to that and also secure jobs.
“There hasn’t been one single thing done so far that I can see in terms of investments on wind manufacture, in terms of investments into areas like sustainable air fuel ... you cannot just plough on regardless and throw all of these workers on the scrapheap.”
Nigel Pocklington, chief executive of renewable energy company Good Energy, said: “Putting solar on new homes might be this government’s easiest climate win. The public are overwhelmingly supportive of it. It reduces bills for households and, with the export shared, cuts carbon for the entire country.
“We are excited to see the rooftop revolution becoming reality.”
