Environmentalists will finally get to see the White House blanket their roof with an array of solar panels, nearly four years after then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu pledged that solar panels and a solar water heater would be installed on the historic building's roof, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
As part of President Barack Obama's "commitment to lead by example to increase the use of clean energy in the U.S.," the American-made panels are converting sunlight into energy at the first family's residence, said Matt Lehrich, a White House spokesman.
Obama hopes this project will send a clear signal that renewable energy is both feasible and environmentally shrewd, the Associated Press reported.
"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," Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a video released by the White House.
The panels were installed as part of a plan to improve the energy efficiency of the building and "demonstrate that historic buildings can incorporate solar-energy and energy-efficiency upgrades," Lehrich said.
"It's estimated that the changes will pay for themselves in energy savings over the next eight years - if the next president doesn't remove them," according to the Columbus Dispatch.
"President Jimmy Carter had 32 solar panels installed in 1979, when an Arab oil embargo triggered a spike in fuel prices, but President Ronald Reagan had them removed in 1986 when the roof was resurfaced."
Maintenance building and the president's cabana was installed with solar panels' to heat water for the outdoor White House pool during the presidency of President George W. Bush. Since then, Obama has been pressed by environmentalists to go a step further, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
The retrofit includes energy-saving equipment such as updated building controls and variable-speed fans, in addition to the 6.3 kilowatts of solar generation, Lehrich said.
