This past week, President Obama announced his plan to boost solar power and promote energy efficiency in the U.S. The president took the stage in California last Friday to discuss his commitment to reach a goal of more than 850 MW of solar deployed in the nation – enough to power nearly 130,000 homes.
To vouch for this, White House officials started this solar deployment mission from their home turf. The “First Panels” made their debut this past month on the White House rooftop and are expected to generate 6.3 kilowatts of power.
We should note that these aren’t technically the first solar panels to be installed on the White House. The first form of solar panels were actually installed by Jimmy Carter in the last 1970s and cost $30,000 – the equivalent of more than $130,000 today (fortunately, solar costs continue to decline through new financing options like OneRoof Energy’s signature, SolarSelect® leasing programs which make solar even more accessible*).
President Obama’s executive decisions will continue the solar industry’s explosive growth. According to the White House:
- Last year, nearly one-quarter of new power generation capacity was from solar energy.
- The cost of solar energy has dropped by more than 50 percent in the past three years.
- America has increased its electricity generation from solar more than ten-fold since Obama took office.
How is the President planning to get the rest of America to install “citizen panels” to join the First Panels?
First, he’s announced executive actions to build a skilled solar workforce – working with the Department of Energy (DOE) to support training programs at community colleges across the nation. He plans to also coordinate an effort to provide innovative financing options by working to instill solar procurements in key markets, making going solar easy for the average American.
Secondly, he’s building a consortium of leading companies and organizations who have publicly committed to the deployment and use of solar energy. Through private-public partnerships with affordable housing leaders like Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF), home improvement leaders like The Home Depot, commercial leaders like Wal-Mart and financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, the White House will work to spur economic development and decrease climate change.
Soon, the First Panels will have an entire constituency of citizen panels to join in its solar democracy.
*This message is brought to you by OneRoof Energy.
