White House goes solar (again)

techntrek
techntrek Solar Expert Posts: 1,372 ✭✭✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
Not the first time solar panels have been installed at the White House, and probably not the last time they'll get taken down...

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/124/3619907/Let-the-sun-shine----White-House-installs-solar-panels
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  • solarix
    solarix Solar Expert Posts: 713 ✭✭
    #2
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    Oooooo. 6.3kW system. I bet that sinkhole of spending and consumption uses a hundred times that much. Of course, for "national security" reasons that kind of info can't be revealed. While I laud the PR statement to move toward clean, renewable energy, they need to do some serious conservation and waste reduction along with it.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #3
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    What is a few solar panels. The new contract for the presidential 23 helicopter fleet where each one costs as much as the presidential 747s did:

    New Helicopter Fleet Could Cost $10-$17 Billion

    The last program spent almost $4 Billion and got canceled as it did not even build one 'copter.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: White House goes solar (again)
    BB. wrote: »

    The last program spent almost $4 Billion and got canceled as it did not even build one 'copter.

    -Bill

    That sounds just like what Canada did about replacing its fleet of 60-year-old 'copters. (Spent the money, canceled the program, got nothing for it.)

    But #24 Sussex Drive has no solar panels. :cry:
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    i thought reagan taking the panels down was dumb. it wouldn't have powered the needs of the wh, but it would've cut some of the costs to the people in running the wh. the money has already been spent on the install at the wh and if the next republican in office tears them down it is a waste of the $ that was spent already and the savings in power usage would now be gone too. i'm no fan of the guy in office right now, but i don't disagree with this decision for the solar install. what do you think, 24 265w solar worlds?
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  • solar_dave
    solar_dave Solar Expert Posts: 2,397 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: White House goes solar (again)
    niel wrote: »
    i thought reagan taking the panels down was dumb. it wouldn't have powered the needs of the wh, but it would've cut some of the costs to the people in running the wh. the money has already been spent on the install at the wh and if the next republican in office tears them down it is a waste of the $ that was spent already and the savings in power usage would now be gone too. i'm no fan of the guy in office right now, but i don't disagree with this decision for the solar install. what do you think, 24 265w solar worlds?

    Surplus Solendra I would guess! ;)
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: White House goes solar (again)
    solar_dave wrote: »
    Surplus Solendra I would guess! ;)

    you never know dave as it's quite possible.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #8
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    They were Solar Thermal panels, and the roof was leaking (from the panel install--as I possibly recall from years ago reading about this) about 7 years later--And so they were taken down to repair the roof. At that point, apparently Mr. Reagan thought they were not worth the cost to reinstall:

    http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1hmxmx/til_that_jimmy_carter_had_solar_panels_installed/
    EDIT 2: So here's basically what happened, based on what I've gathered: 1979, President Jimmy Carter installs solar panels on the roof of the White House West Wing. They were used to heat water for the staff eating area and were symbolic of Carter's energy policies.
    1986, repair work is being done on the White House roof below the panels. President Ronald Reagan reportedly felt, "that the equipment was just a joke," and never had them reinstalled once the repair work was finished.
    So, OP's title is slightly misleading. Reagan didn't "have them removed". They were going to be removed anyway for the repairs, Reagan just didn't order to have them reinstalled. Same principle I suppose. He had a very different idea for energy policy than his predecessor did.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #9
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    maybe that's his official stance, but reagan was on a kick back then that we had plenty of oil and natural gas and he was making carter look like chicken little and out to being an alarmist and made his solar install disappear because of that.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #10
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    Every article I have found so far talked of taking down the panels for roof repairs. And the Reagan Administration decided it was not cost effective to re-install them.

    I doubt that a President would be involved in roof repairs--And if not interested in spending the money to re-install the same panels--It is a choice that people make every day when remodeling.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #11
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    just because they released an official version to everybody to write about doesn't make it so. reagan would never lie would he? i believe it to be bs and i stand by my opinion.
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  • solarix
    solarix Solar Expert Posts: 713 ✭✭
    #12
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    The cost of Reagan reinstalling the old solar system was trivial compared to the cost of reinforcing the short-sighted belief our world does not need clean, renewable solar energy because we had so much dirty, non-renewable fuels.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #13
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    Whereas I can readily believe that if the Government (any government) installed solar panels of any kind they'd do it wrong somehow ...

    I have to say this thread is teetering on the edge of going "critical political".
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #14
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    yes, but it is still on the subject matter of solar and is allowed. you're right that it can slide off into the slippery slope very easily though so the reminder is warranted.
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  • techntrek
    techntrek Solar Expert Posts: 1,372 ✭✭✭
    #15
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    The better news is the US military has fully embraced solar, and in a meaninful way. First it has replaced front-line fuel consumption in many cases, eliminating the deadly cargo runs to refuel wasteful generators. Second very large installations have been completed on multiple permanent bases, with more in the pipeline to come.
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  • Joe94
    Joe94 Solar Expert Posts: 42 ✭
    #16
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    I don't want to add more political fuel to the fire but the discussion reminded me of a interesting conversation. Michael Reynolds of Earthship biotecture fame said that the only president he ever voted for was Reagan. He said that in his early years of trying to get grants and such for solar development nobody would listen except he received a sizable check from Reagan's office in the early eighties to support solar research at his site in New Mexico.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #17
    Re: White House goes solar (again)

    Looks like Mr. Reynolds is still alive and kicking:

    http://earthship.com/

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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