Reagan Solar Panels

Has yet to fully recover.

Reagan solar panels. 365 days a year 24 year that s 294 336 kwh of dirty energy bought and burned because of one bad decision by ronald reagan. This symbolic installation was taken down in 1986 during the reagan presidency. President ronald reagan took office in 1981 and the solar panels were removed during his administration. Dirck halstead getty images.

In 1986 when the price of energy was temporarily cheaper and americans minds were less focused on environmental issues president reagan ordered the panels removed from the white house roof. The average solar panel from the era produces approximately 1 05 kwh of energy every day. Ronald reagan was quoted as saying the solar panels were were unsightly and unnecessary the solar panels which were for. In 2010 president barack obama requested that solar panels and a solar water heater be installed on the white house.

Multiply by reagan s 32 solar panels and you get 33 6 kwh of clean energy every day for free. Author natalie goldstein wrote in global warming. And in 1986 the reagan administration quietly dismantled the white house solar panel installation while resurfacing the roof. The solar panels were installed during the presidency of jimmy carter.

Solar powered presidencies in 1979 president jimmy carter had solar panels installed on the white house during his term as president. In 1991 unity college an environmentally centered college in maine acquired the panels and later installed them on their cafeteria. Reagan s political philosophy viewed the free market as the best arbiter of what was good for the country. In 1979 jimmy carter in a forward looking move installed solar panels in the roof of the white house.

Reagan who didn t think much of solar energy also allowed the tax credit carter had instated to lapse. Under reagan funding was cut for the newly formed department of energy and in 1986 when the white house needed roof repairs under the solar thermal panels the reagan administration removed the panels and quietly decided to not reinstall them claiming it simply wasn t a cost effective option. It was clear reagan had a completely different take on energy consumption. Solar in the u s.

In an excerpt from his new book let it shine john perlin reveals how one of the first actions of the new reagan administration was to dim the lights on what had been a promising start for an american solar energy program. How ronald reagan turned out the lights on solar power.