WASHINGTON – In October, Energy Secretary Steven Chu pledged to have solar panels and a solar hot water heater on the White House roof before the start of summer this year.
“As we move toward a clean energy economy, the White House will lead by example,” Chu said at the GreenGov Symposium where he promised the solar panels. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had them up there.”
President Jimmy Carter dedicated the solar panels on the White House in 1979, but President Ronald Reagan removed them in 1986. (Source: Jimmy Carter Library)
However, summer is well underway, and the solar panel contract is still mired in the “competitive procurement process” stages, according to Joelle Terry at the Department of Energy. DOE officials would not reveal when they thought the process would be completed or announce a date when the solar panels are expected to join security personnel atop America’s most famous government building.
President Jimmy Carter installed 32 solar panels on the roof of the White House in 1979 when the oil embargo crisis spiked fuel prices.
“No one can ever embargo the sun or interrupt its delivery to us,” Carter said at the installation ceremony, having never seen the episode of “The Simpsons” where Mr. Burns blocks out the sun with a giant disk.
However, President Ronald Reagan removed the panels in 1986. Then, during President George W. Bush’s administration, the National Park Service installed solar panels on a maintenance building and on the president’s cabana to heat water for the outdoor White House pool.
While the National Park Service oversaw the installation of solar panels under Bush, the upcoming demonstration project was awarded to the DOE as part of the larger SunShot Initiative to make solar technology cost competitive.
Solar Design Associates, which declined to comment on the upcoming project, installed the previous panels in conjunction with the National Park Service, according to the magazine “Solar Today.” The National Park Service was unable to comment on why the previous installation might have been completed more quickly under President Bush and directed all questions to the White House Press Office. Spokesman Clark Stevens deferred to the DOE, where representatives were unable to comment on projected cost, location for the panels, end date or the cause of the delay because of the ongoing nature of the bid.
While the DOE would not comment on the panels, a contract on USASpending.gov shows that Overly Manufacturing Company signed a $10,000 agreement in January to “support the contractor” for the photovoltaic system and “ensure that the integrity and warranty of the White House roof is maintained.”
The grassroots organization 350.org, named after an atmospheric target of 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide recommended by some scientists, was sympathetic to the difficulties of installing solar on the historic building but disappointed by the White House’s broken promise.
How do solar panels work?
Solar panels, sometimes called modules, are made of solar cells – each cell capable of producing between one and two watts of power. A group of solar panels makes up an array. Most solar panels only have efficiencies between 10 and 20 percent, meaning they capture 10 to 20 percent of the available energy coming in as sunlight and convert that to energy consumers can use.
Photons, packets of energy that come from the sun, pass through the top layer of coating and excite some of the electrons (negatively charged particles) in the solar panel. These “free electrons” roam around, shepherded by an electric field along a path to create a current. Metal contacts can then pick up this directional current that can be used for powering small electronics or converted to alternating current and sold to the electric grid.
“The administration needs to do more to show that they’re serious about moving clean energy forward,” said 350.org spokesman Jamie Henn. “There’s no better way of doing that than getting on the roof of the White House and proclaiming that there shouldn’t just be solar panels there, but on rooftops all across America and around the world.”
Solar power is one of the staples of the growing alternate energy sector. Both commercial buildings and homes are incorporating the technology to combat climate change, bring down energy costs in the long-term or reduce dependence on foreign fuel.
Solar makes up 1 percent of the energy produced by alternative fuels in the U.S., but it has grown at an average 12 percent per year since 2006, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Put Solar On It, a campaign run by 350.org, challenged world leaders to make a visible statement about clean energy by putting solar panels on their residences.
“This isn’t rocket science. Hammer it in, make a few connections – you’re good to go,” Henn said. “If the first lady is going to go out and get her hands dirty planting her garden, then it’s up to the president to do some home improvements as well.”
While it may be a little more complicated than Henn jokes, two other heads of state have installed solar panels on their official residences.
- Mulee Agee Palace, the Maldives: Forty-eight panels on the Mulee Agee Palace, where the president of the Maldives lives, make up the 11.5 kilowatt rooftop array. President Mohamed Nasheed helped install the solar panels himself in 2010, within days of the Obama administration’s announcement to place solar panels on the White House. Nasheed pledged to make the Maldives carbon-neutral by 2020. The low-lying island sits off the tip of India and is vulnerable to the rising seas associated with climate change. How vulnerable? The highest point on the island is less than eight feet above sea level.
- Rashtrapati Bhavan, India: Sixty-four solar panels are installed on the auditorium at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, home of President Pratibha Devisingh Patil. The solar array is intended to “reduce electricity consumption by approximately 54,750 [kilowatt hours] annually,” according to PV (photovoltaic) Magazine. One hundred solar-powered streetlights illuminate various sections of Rashtrapati Bhavan. The compound also has five electric vehicles that are charged with solar power and leave no carbon footprint, according to the government’s website. India began greening the presidential compound in 2008 as part of the Roshni initiative to develop green urban habitats.
A few other world leaders, although not going solar on their residences, have embraced alternate energy for important state buildings:
- Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City/Italy: The papal apartments may not have solar on them, but the Paul VI Audience Hall that His Holiness uses for general audiences certainly does. In 2008, the German company SolarWorld donated 2,400 solar panels that now sit on the auditorium roof. According to BBC News, the energy generated by the panels helps avoid emitting 200 tons of carbon dioxide in two weeks.
- Kantei, Tokyo, Japan: The emperor has yet to install solar on the Imperial Palace, but the head of government, Prime Minister Naoto Kan, has solar panels on his office building. The Kantei, often translated as the official residence of the prime minister, is actually the main office and sits across the road from his house. Hundreds of solar panels run along the north-south eves, according to the Kantei website.