5 clean energy advancements and trends we’re thankful for!

Thanksgiving was proclaimed a national holiday in the U.S. in 1863, by none other than President Abraham Lincoln. Americans have since gathered with their families, on the last Thursday in November, to break bread and express thanks.

We at SolarCity are celebrating Thanksgiving too - we’re thankful for recent advancements and trends in clean energy that are changing our industry, and changing the way we power our lives.

Here are five of them:

Storage

Simple, effective and affordable battery storage solutions have the potential to change the solar game. We’re thankful that many people have been working on the challenge for a long time. Earlier this year, we made a breakthrough by announcing our own battery backup service.

High-efficiency home appliances

For a homeowner wanting to benefit from clean energy, usage is the flip side of generation. Thankfully, many modern appliances are dramatically more efficient than those of even a few years ago. It’s a story that probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves. If, for instance, every gas furnace sold in the U.S. met Energy Star requirements, people would save about $171 million per year. Greenhouse gas emissions would drop annually by an amount equivalent to that produced by 177,000 cars.

EVs

Few clean-energy products have captured peoples’ attention like electric vehicles. EV sales in the U.S. are flourishing, with an impressive four-year CAGR of 309%. We’re thankful that EV battery prices are trending downward, and more options are available to consumers - a range of manufacturers are offering EVs now, headlined, of course, by our sister company, Tesla. This year saw the release of its highly anticipated Model X crossover. Would anything be cooler than charging your Tesla with a SolarCity system on your roof?

Wind efficiency

It’s possible that our clean energy future will be fueled by a variety of technologies. So, while we’re pro-solar, we’re also thankful for advancements in wind. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), modern turbines generate close to the theoretical limit of power that can be extracted from a stream of air. GWEC also estimates wind could provide more than a quarter of our power by 2050.

  

Support for solar

According to our 2015 national poll of homeowners, conducted by national polling firm Zogby Analytics, nearly nine in 10 Americans say renewable energy is important to the country’s future. Solar power was the top choice among a wide range of demographics. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, conservatives, liberals, city and rural dwellers, youth, and the elderly all voiced their support.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving. And thank you for helping make SolarCity America’s #1 solar provider.

www.gonesolarusa.com

Debunking Solar Myths: Solar Panels are Ugly!

We get it. Some of you just don’t like the look of solar panels, but with our proprietary solar system mounting hardware, solar arrays look better than ever. And when you’re saving money every month, do you really want to call solar ugly?

SolarCity customers discuss solar aesthetics in our video series to debunk myths about solar energy. 

A breakthrough in the affordability of Solar Battery Systems.

SolarCity’s mission is to remove every obstacle that stands in the way of clean energy. Today we introduced a product that will make serious headway in this effort: fully-integrated and affordable solar battery backup systems for homes, businesses and governmental utilities. These products can provide benefits to the utility grid as a whole and to all consumers of energy.

While the sun provides more energy in the middle of a single day than the planet’s entire population uses in a year, our potential to harness the sun as an energy source has always been held back by intermittency and our inability to access its energy at night. Battery storage will help solve both of these issues, and as soon as solar battery systems are cost-competitive with fossil fuel-based centralized power, I believe the demand for solar energy will eclipse that of fossil energy.

Using Tesla’s suite of batteries for homes and businesses, SolarCity’s fully-installed battery and solar system costs are one-third of what they were a year ago. We expect costs to continue to decline as manufacturing scales, and over the next 5-10 years, these cost reductions will make it feasible to deploy a battery by default with all of our solar power systems.

Batteries distributed at homes across a region can lower the costs of maintaining the grid and new market structures designed to take full advantage of this benefit appear likely in several states. 

Proceedings currently underway, such as the New York REV and California’s More than Smart, seek the creation of effective market structures for distributed clean energy services that will reward utilities for adopting cheaper, cleaner, customer-sited resources. The products that we’re announcing today are the building blocks of these new market structures.

Our customer contract explicitly contemplates the potential of these markets and creates a revenue-sharing opportunity for the customer. For utilities and grid operators, the technology is designed to enable remote-aggregated control of solar battery systems. I urge anyone reading this who is responsible for managing grid operations, and who is interested in procuring capacity, reactive power, or voltage management services deep in the distribution system  to contact us.

I believe the best grid design is one in which utilities embrace distributed energy resources. However, when utilities and regulators impose solar-specific charges on their customers, or burden homeowners with unduly long system interconnection delays, utilities risk mass customer defection from the grid via solar battery systems.

In Hawaii, people are frustrated with utilities for having put a hold on rooftop solar in their territories. We hear often from people seeking a solar battery system that will allow them to sever ties from their utility completely. As I’ve written before, we don’t think this is optimal for the grid. But when the choice is between being grid-connected without solar or being off the grid with rooftop solar and a solar battery system, the choice is clear. As a result, SolarCity plans to offer an off-grid solar battery system to eligible customers in Hawaii beginning in 2016.

It is vital that we advance the technologies that will lead to an affordable, decarbonized grid. The widespread availability of affordable battery storage will unlock the full potential of solar energy to contribute to this effort. I believe that the solar battery systems launched today will result in a record amount of batteries being deployed in the U.S., advancing our goal of ensuring a cleaner future for all.

www.gonesolarusa.com

The New Yorker on SolarCity and the rooftop solar revolution!

In The New Yorker magazine, writer Bill McKibben covers the rise of rooftop solar in the United States, and utility opposition to that rise.  We were excited to be profiled, alongside others who are rethinking the way we power our homes, schools, and businesses, including Green Mountain Power in Vermont and New York State’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) program.

McKibben visited a five-person SolarCity crew in Surprise, Arizona and stood on a rooftop with CEO Lyndon Rive chatting about SolarCity’s rapid growth:

… Solar City has grown by a hundred per cent each year for the past seven years, in part by lowering the soft costs of installation. A job that once took three days can now be done in one, and Rive showed me a training video of a California crew that could do two houses in a day and still have time to surf. By next year, solar will be the fastest-growing new source of energy in the country, approaching half of new capacity. That’s still only a fraction of the total capacity, Rive said, “but if you just maintain that, just plot out the line with the retirement of old plants, it’s inevitable that it will be over fifty per cent of the total generating capacity eventually. And that’s assuming nothing changes."

Solar, combined with other technological improvements, can save consumers a lot of money – and the upheaval McKibben describes is both necessary and possible in a world threatened by climate change:

Dave and Karen Correll live across town from the Borkowskis, in a well-kept Colonial Cape that was another of the original batch of “E-home” renovations. First, contractors re-insulated the basement and the attic. Then came the air-source heat pump, which the Corrells lease from Green Mountain Power for forty-seven dollars a month. Their oil bill fell sixty-seven per cent during the course of Vermont’s long, cold winter of 2015. “I can’t wait to see what comes out next,” Karen told me. “Our furnace is about at the end of its life, and I can’t wait to replace it.”

Neither the Corrells nor the Borkowskis changed their homes out of concern for global warming. (“If it’s not on the Disney Channel, I don’t hear about it,” Sara Borkowski said.) But that’s the point: a bold reworking of energy systems, long necessary and expensive, is now necessary and much more affordable. That could make for a very different world.

You can read the whole article here.

www.gonesolarusa.com

Stay Current: Our Top Solar Links

We’re all about saving you energy, so we’ve rounded up the latest in solar so you don’t have to.

One in ten solar industry employees is a veteran, says Examiner.com.

Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey and Liam Neeson are among those giving voice to nature, in a film series on conservation. TreeHugger checks out the latest video.

Apple has already achieved 100% carbon neutrality in its U.S. operations. Now it’s doing the same in China, with the launch of two new clean energy programs, Fortune reports.

Farmers in New Mexico are growing produce with solar energy- and saving money in the process. KOAT has details.

Can solar cookstoves help reduce greenhouse emissions in developing countries?The Guardian takes a look at the Ohio startup disrupting the clean stove industry.

www.gonesolarusa.com

Veterans in Solar

Frank Sandoval, veteran and SolarCity employee, works with a customer while on the job.

Frank Sandoval, a U.S. Army infantry sniper, returned from the front lines with a virtual lifetime of stories, some to tell, others to forget. Frank served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and elsewhere for 12 years. “Grunts and infantrymen, snipers, shooters, we’re notorious for being one thing,” he says, “the bad boys.” 

But life back home presented a challenge Frank wasn’t prepared for. He is exceedingly proud of his service, which included peacekeeping missions that saved lives and restored countries torn apart by civil war. But, unable to find a job and pay his bills as a civilian, “no longer the pride of the United States,” he felt lost and utterly worthless.

“That feeling,” Frank says, “is worse than combat.”

Today, all that’s changed. Frank serves as a senior inspections coordinator for SolarCity, where he’s had four promotions in four years and a sense of purpose and pride he never anticipated. He’d always thought renewable energy was for “tree-hugging hippies,” but now serving planet Earth is his passion. (Click here for a brief video of Frank on and off the job.)

“I’m all about solar,” he says.

Another surprise Frank encountered shortly after coming on board: The striking similarities between military culture and life with SolarCity, which counts almost 900 veterans among its ranks. That number and our work installing solar on military housing helped make Frank’s transition feel like “going from one army to another.” But it was more than that, he says, pointing to SolarCity’s resolute emphasis on teamwork. As an example, every panel installer has a partner who might tell his buddy to take a break if it appears he’s had too much sun.

“At SolarCity we have a saying: One Team, One Dream,” Frank says. “That’s identical to how we operate in the military, we look out for each other.”

The ability to rapidly adapt to constant change is another cultural similarity Frank describes. “You’ve got surprises all the time in military: new techniques, different weapons, different scopes. It’s no different at SolarCity, which is ever changing. When I started, it might take a week and a half to install a typical five-kilowatt system on a home. Now the guys can knock out two of those in a day. Any suggestion is welcome, because we’re constantly innovating, constantly changing.”

Copy that, says fellow veteran Jeff Gill, a SolarCity channel account manager who oversees a large sales staff. Gill was a helicopter rescue swimmer whose roles ranged from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, which he did in the Philippines during Typhoon Haiyan, to door gunner for an anti-surface warfare mission in the Strait of Hormuz.

“In the military, we cannot perform our missions without looking out for the well being of our brothers and sisters in arms,” he says.

Jeff sees many similarities through the prism of his aviation training. “In an aircraft, unplanned conditions always arise,” he says, also citing the frequent need to make split-second decisions. “Then there’s leadership. Everyone has a leadership role to play in the military and at SolarCity.”  

Jeff also cites Jigaro Kano, the founder of Judo and a prominent teacher during Japan’s Meiji period. “He has a famous maxim that describes the essential logic which animates both SolarCity and the military: ‘Maximum efficiency, mutual benefit.’ Maximum efficiency represents a tireless dedication to improvement, a drive towards an ideal that we may never achieve. In the military maybe maximum efficiency stands for a world without war. At SolarCity, it may mean a world without the need for fossil fuel.”  

Nearly one in 10 solar industry employees is a veteran. It’s impossible to overstate how proud SolarCity is to have so many among our ranks. We’re deeply honored that the feeling can go both ways. 

“I put on my green SolarCity shirt,” Frank says, “and I have as much pride as wearing my camouflage. This job completely saved my life.”

Debunking Solar Myths: Repair Costs Will Kill You!

We know the thought of repairing a complicated solar system can be frightening, but no worries if you have a SolarCity system! We cover all repairs in the rare event they’re needed.

Hear our customers discuss maintenance in our video series to debunk myths about solar energy.

8 technologies that faced resistance before changing the world!

It’s tough, sometimes, to be on the cutting edge. And that’s exactly where solar energy is—both the companies that provide it and the consumers who believe in and choose it. 

As we work together to create a future of clean, affordable energy, we face critics and naysayers. They might be traditional utilities fearing a loss of their monopoly. They might be politically influential billionaires. Or, they might be “neighbors” who just don’t like change. (Though, there’s growing evidence that rooftop solar’s growth has been influenced quite positively by neighbor-to-neighbor relationships.)

Solar energy is only the latest in a long list of disruptive technologies that fought to win out over early resistance. Here are a few others:

1. Personal Computers—Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, nixed a project to produce what would have been one of the first home computers. In 1977, he stated, “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." Since the mid 1970s, more than 4 billion personal computers have been sold worldwide, with about a quarter for home use. Digital Equipment Corporation, for its part, was subsequently purchased by Compaq in 1998.

2. Satellite communications—In 1961, at the dawn of the Space Age, then FCC Commissioner T.A.M. Craven stated, “There is practically no chance communications space satellites will be used to provide better telephone, telegraph, television or radio service inside the United States.” Today, about 2,000 communications satellites orbit the earth, relaying signals.

3. Television—Darryl Zanuck, one of the founders of 20th Century Fox movie studios, claimed in 1946 that television would flop. He reasoned people would “get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” Today, an estimated 89 percent of households worldwide have a television.

4. The car—Writing in 1925, Princeton University Dean Howard McClenahan warned that Sunday drives encouraged the skipping of church, and would create “devilish and depraved” young people. Today, there are about 250 million cars in the United States … and an estimated 350,000 churches.

5. The phonograph—Composer John Phillip Sousa feared the phonograph, invented in 1877, would deteriorate American music. The advent of jazz and rock-and-roll in the 20th century seems to have proven “The March King” wrong.

6. The telephone—The Knights of Columbus warned in 1926 that the telephone would ruin home life and end the practice of visiting friends. Don’t you call (or text) friends when you’re coming over?

7. The printing press—The 15th century German Benedictine Abbot Johannes Trithemius decried the invention of the printing press. He feared it would make monks—now freed from having to painstakingly hand-copy sacred texts—lazy and immoral.

8. Writing—Yes, even writing—something we do every day—was slammed by none other than the Greek philosopher Plato. He feared it would make people forgetful because they wouldn’t have to memorize facts.

So, what’s the moral of the story?

Maybe it’s that, if history is a guide, resistance to solar energy is happening right on cue.

Like the champions of the world-changing technologies that came before us, we’re in this fight to win it. Together with the hundreds of thousands of Americans who’ve gone solar, we’re changing the world.

www.gonesolarusa.com

Modernize Your Home with Solar!

The top four states with the highest number of homebuyers include Florida, California, Texas and Arizona. It’s no coincidence that these states also happen to have more than 200 days of sun every year. In May 2015, California’s median home price increased nearly one percent, making it the highest since November 2007. Combine high selling prices with the fact that California is a top solar state and you could be looking at a homeowner’s dream. California had enough solar power systems installed in 2014 that it could power more than a million homes.

Cost savings and environmental benefits are two reasons why solar is becoming more mainstream, but a big concern of homeowners is what the panels will look like on their homes.

An innovative look

Open an issue of Better Homes and Gardens and you’re bound to see trending articles on home efficiency, eco-friendly properties and tech-inspired upgrades. Solar, like any other technological invention, has come a long way since the first photovoltaic (PV) cell was created in 1954. Today’s panels offer next-level PV mounting technology that not only reduces installation time to less than a day, but also improves safety and aesthetics.

Solar panels can be placed on all types of surfaces. For example, homeowners with roofs made out of shingle, tile, wood and metal can still reap the benefits of going solar. Roof angles are no longer a challenge for installation teams because even if a roof is flat, inclined or steep there is a solar panel for that. 

Panels are even looking different than 20 years ago. Modern solar panels blend right into the roof of your home. Some offer a low-profile design and front trims that have fewer contact points, minimizing the impact on your home. Solar panels often protect your roof from high wind, hail and heavy rain. 

Added efficiency

Solar panels have also gotten more efficient with improvements made to numerous production-based materials. Copper-based electrodes replaced costly silver paste when the cost of silver increased in 2011 due to a shortage. Typical solar panels use silicon to capture sunlight, but that material can be expensive. While using plastic in conventional rooftop systems can be less effective, scientists believe they have discovered a new arrangement of solar cell ingredients. The new discovery could make low-cost solar panels more efficient, and since they are low-cost, available to even more homeowners.

Join the solar movement

If an innovative look and home efficiency don’t persuade you to switch to solar, maybe fame, fortune and Pinterest will. Solar is a home accessory, just like a new stainless steel appliance, and many homeowners are proud of their step towards going green. Celebrities including Brangelina, Johnny Depp and Julia Roberts have installed solar panels on their homes. President Obama has solar panels installed on the White House in support of various grassroots organizations. The solar community is still growing, which makes it a great time for homeowners to join the solar movement.

www.gonesolarusa.com

SolarCity’s 400 Schools Celebrate Environment, Savings!

Commercial solar installation, Chico Unified School District

The math on our nation’s solar installations at schools is looking pretty impressive! 

SolarCity has installed solar at more than 400 school sites across the country, bringing clean renewable electricity to rural communities and the inner city alike. The combined schools are expected to:

•  Avoid 1,775,684,554 pounds of CO2 emissions; the equivalent of 80,544 metric tons or the weight of 445 blue whales

•  Offset carbon emissions equivalent to planting 3,826,905 trees per year - enough to populate Central Park 200 times

•  Conserve enough energy to power 7,547 homes every year, or the entire town of Palisades Park, New Jersey

•  Save 8,511,760,641 gallons of water in a contract's lifetime*, which is enough water to fill 13,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools

Schools are not only saving the environment but millions of dollars, which they are able to redirect into what they do best: teaching! 

For example, when we installed at Chico Unified School District, we projected that the solar production would save the California school district more than $3 million on utility bills over the 20-year term of its power purchase agreement. Further south in the Golden State, we projected savings of $325,000 in just the first year for the Lancaster and Eastside School Districts in the Antelope Valley, which together serve nearly 18,000 students in 25 schools. 

Meanwhile, the Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified School District, situated in California’s own Fertile Crescent and serving an impoverished rural community near Fresno, is expected to save $900,000 and several million dollars over the lifetime of the solar contracts at five schools. 

With these savings the Firebaugh District was able to restore its music program, which had fallen victim to budget cuts.

“Every student needs something to connect with in school,” superintendent Russell Freitas told the Fresno Bee. “This is a great opportunity to get students the chance to connect with music.”

Meanwhile, SolarCity has teamed up with the National Energy Education Department (NEED) project intended to promote an energy conscious and educated society by creating effective networks of students, educators, business, government and community leaders to design and deliver objective, multi-sided energy education programs. 

The two organizations have developed a curriculum guide to help educators bring valuable energy lessons to life in their classrooms in a simple and engaging way. With climate change issues already worsening economic and civil conditions in countries around the world, the partnership aims to convey the importance of smart and responsible energy use among today’s students in a way that’s easily digestible, yet eye-opening.

Recently, the Solar Energy Industry Association and The Solar Foundation illuminated the nation’s solar schools in a report and interactive map as well. Their findings showed that nearly 2.7 million students attend schools with solar energy systems and that collectively, our nation’s solar schools have already saved more than 70 million dollars on energy costs compared to standard utility rates.

Are your city’s schools solarized? Let us know what your school has done with solar savings, or if they aren’t using solar yet, tell us what you’d spend the money on! 

www.gonesolarusa.com

*Note: The average lifetime of a SolarCity school contract is 20-25 years.

How old homes stayed cozy when temperatures got chilly.

This summer, we published a blog on how older homes kept cool in the days before air conditioning. It was one of our most popular posts, inspiring a lot of great feedback.

Now, with winter on its way—and with much of the country facing months of sub-freezing temperatures—we thought it would be a good time to reboot the topic. This time, we’ll look at the flip side: How older homes kept people warm in the days before modern heating systems.

We’ve again reached out to registered architect Mary Wheeler Schap. Her Cincinnati, Ohio-based firm, Schap Architects, specializes in restoring older buildings to their former glory. Mary has a passion for old homes. And, she has a wealth of insight on how they were designed to keep their occupants comfy when the mercury level dipped. Here’s a bit of what she shared:

Enormous fireplaces

Used for both heating and cooking, fireplaces in early American homes were often enormous—big enough to stand in. Modest homes usually had a single, central fireplace and chimney to take advantage of radiant heating. Homes of wealthier families might have had two or more chimneys on opposite ends of the house, and in multiple rooms. By the end of the 19th century, cast-iron radiators and coal-fired boilers eliminated the need for large fireplaces.

A “keeping room”

In colonial times, families escaped to a “keeping room,” just off the kitchen, when the rest of the house was too cold. The room was heated by the kitchen stove or fireplace, and was often the only warm space in the house. It was a place for families to gather, read, talk and play games, and evolved into what we today call the family room, great room or hearth room.

Cold-weather architectural styles

Common in New England, the "Saltbox" and “Cape Cod” architectural styles were developed with a long roof facing the northern wind, and a central chimney to radiate heat. Both styles also had low ceilings and small rooms, each with a door to trap heat. Small windows allowed some light, while keeping the heat loss to a minimum. And, steep, narrow stairways provided less space to heat.

Thick walls

Older homes had thick walls made of brick or stone. These materials absorbed the sun's heat during the day, and released it into the house for hours after sunset. Fiberglass insulation wasn’t developed until 1932, so older homes might have used mud-plaster and straw within their walls to cut down on heat transfer.

South-facing windows

The south side of some homes had larger windows to allow in sunshine, providing both light and heat. Thick, long draperies were often used in these windows at night. This helped to prevent fireplace heat from escaping through the single pane of glass.

Overhangs, eaves and smart landscaping

Large overhangs and eaves helped shade a house from the higher path of the summer sun, while allowing rays from the lower-arcing winter sun a way inside. Leafy landscaping was also a popular tactic: Leaves that blocked the sun’s rays in the summer would be gone by winter, allowing sunshine to hit the house. And, a bank of evergreen trees on the north side of a house could help shield it from strong winter winds.

Good old Yankee ingenuity

Even the best home design sometimes needed a little help. To take the edge off the cold, people used glass or ceramic bed warmers filled with hot coals or embers.Wingback chairs—a style imported from England during the colonial era—were designed to trap the heat radiating from the fireplace, keeping the occupant warm. Portable tin, brass or silver foot warmers were carried when out and about. And people wore many, many layers of clothing, including long underwear, caps, wool socks and gloves.

The modern idea of energy conservation was not the original intent of these design features. Nevertheless, understanding how your old home “works” might help you save energy. An energy advisor or architect specializing in vintage buildings can help you take advantage of all your older home has to offer.

Go solar in any season

Winter … spring … summer … fall. No matter the season, it’s a great time to go solar with SolarCity. Our dedicated installation teams work year-round to help homeowners benefit from clean, money-saving, solar energy. Join the 260,000+ SolarCity customers who’ve made the switch.

www.gonesolarusa.com

Top 10 landmarks to check off your solar energy bucket list!

Fans of solar power might be interested to know that there’s a growing list of famous landmarks now using the sun for at least part of their power needs.

They range from medieval castles, to wonder-of-the-world icons, to cities-of-the-future. All seem worthy of a solar enthusiast’s bucket list.

1. The Vatican, Vatican City

Pope Francis has been an outspoken supporter of clean energy. But it was actually his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who took the Vatican solar. In 2008, he oversaw installation of a 2,000-panel array on the roof of a large auditorium next to St. Peter’s Basilica. It produces 300,000 kWh per year.

                                                                                                                   

2. The White House, Washington, D.C.

The home to every U.S. President since John Adams is actually on its second go-round with rooftop solar. President Carter installed a system in 1979, during the energy crisis, only to see it removed a few years later. A new (hopefully permanent) system was installed in 2013. It’s estimated to produce more than 19,000 kWh per year.

3. Eiffel Tower, Paris

It seems fitting that the most iconic landmark in the “City of Light” has gone solar. In 2015, as part of a clean energy initiative that also included installation of wind turbines and rainwater collectors, solar panels were added to Paris’ most famous landmark. The panels provide for about half of the Eiffel Tower’s hot water needs.

4. Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

At 829 meters, the Burj Khalifa is currently the world’s tallest building. It uses a 378-panel array to heat 140,000 liters of water daily for its residents. With plenty of sun in the desert, the system saves 690,000 kWh per year.

5. Taj Mahal, Agra, India

It was built as a mausoleum in the 17th century and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 20th. Now, the Taj Mahal is staying in step with the new millennium by getting electricity from a nearby solar plant. The plant is part of a broader renewable energy plan by the Indian city of Agra. The city aims to get about 10 percent of its power from clean sources by 2018.

6. Alcatraz, San Francisco, Calif.

“The Rock” has housed some of America’s most infamous criminals. Now it’s home to an array of 1,300 solar panels, producing about 400,000 kWh per year. Installed in 2012, the panels are part of an effort by the National Park Service to bring renewable energy to parks and landmarks.

7. Clarence House, London

Prince Charles himself applied to Westminster City Council for a permit to place solar panels on his 180-year-old London residence. Installed in 2011, the 30-panel array generates an estimated 4,000 kWh per year.

8. AT&T Park, San Francisco, Calif.

Several pro sports arenas have integrated renewable energy. San Francisco’s pro baseball stadium was the first to go solar, though. Operational since 2007, the 590-panel array at AT&T Park generates 120 kW of renewable energy. All of it is returned to the grid for use by homes and businesses in the Bay area.

9. Chirk Castle, Wales

Built in the late 13th century, Chirk Castle was a strategic fortress for King Edward I. It’s age and history, however, have not prevented it from keeping up with the times. In 2009, the UK National Trust oversaw the installation of a solar array. It’s used to provide hot water to the castle’s residents, and saves 8,000 kWh per year.

10. Masdar City, Abu Dhabi

Built from scratch in the desert, Masdar City was designed as a zero-carbon showcase of renewable energy—on a citywide scale. It hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency and is a hub for many clean tech companies. The city is powered by a massive 87,780-panel array that produces 17,564,000 kWh per year. The array is supplemented by rooftop solar throughout the city. 

www.gonesolarusa.com