Ronald Reagan White House Solar Panels

In 1986 ronald reagan removed the solar panels installed by jimmy carter from the white house.

Ronald reagan white house solar panels.

The panels came down in 1986 at president reagan s request. Multiply by reagan s 32 solar panels and you get 33 6 kwh of clean energy every day for free. In 1991 unity college an environmentally centered college in maine acquired the panels and later installed them on their cafeteria. George charles szego the engineer who persuaded carter to install the solar panels reportedly claimed that reagan s chief of staff donald t.

President ronald reagan removes carter s solar panels. This symbolic installation was taken down in 1986 during the reagan presidency. In 1979 jimmy carter in a forward looking move installed solar panels in the roof of the white house. 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.

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. The average solar panel from the era produces approximately 1 05 kwh of energy every day. Regan felt that the equipment was just a joke and he had it taken down the panels were removed in 1986 when work was being done on the white house roof below the panels. Reagan was quoted as saying the panels were unsightly and unnecessary.

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 white house itself once harvested the power of the sun. The white house has begun installing american made solar panels on the first family s residence as part of an energy retrofit. Reagan who didn t think much of solar energy also allowed the tax credit carter had instated to lapse.

Although carter s solar panels remained on the roof of the white house for seven years throughout ronald reagan s first term and into his second the solar panels were removed for roof repairs and never re installed.