President Barack Obama has been pushing solar power and renewable energies for most of his time in the hot seat and he has finally kept his word to put solar power on the White House. Others before him may have dabbled in different renewable energies but is President Obama our ‘Green President’ who is going to show the way for other leaders around the world?
After getting approval for the White House solar power system in 2010 and expecting to start installation in 2011 – their solar system is finally installed, up and running.
The system is of moderate size, made from all American equipment and will produce around 6.3 kilowatts of power during sunlight hours. Citing security issues – there is a limit to how much of the White House roof can be covered by solar panels. “Solar panels at the White House are a really important message that solar is here, we are doing it, we can do a lot more,” says Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
They have also announced that over 300 organisations in the public and private sector have committed to more solar power installations and energy efficiency. The White House blog has said, “The commitments represent more than 850 megawatts of solar deployed – enough to power nearly 130,000 homes – as well as energy efficiency investments that will lower bills for more than 1 billion square feet of buildings.”
“Additionally, the President announced new executive actions that will lead to $2 billion in energy efficiency investments in Federal buildings; smarter appliances that will cut carbon pollution by more than 380 million metric tons – equivalent to taking 80 million cars off the road for one year – and will save businesses nearly $26 billion on their energy bills; and training programs at community colleges across the country that will assist 50,000 workers to enter the solar industry by 2020.”
Previous Presidents have also tried to be green while living in the White House. President Jimmy Carter installed a solar hot water unit with solar panels in the 70s – however this was removed by President Reagan in the late 80s as he felt it “didn’t befit a super-power.”
President Bush also had a 9kW systems installed on the maintenance building in the early 2000’s but it said to be heavily shaded and therefore not performing to its potential.
We hope that President Obama will keep pushing renewable energies and will lead others in positions of power around the world to provide supporting policies for growing solar energy solutions.