Let’s Be Honest, American Homeowners Aren’t Embracing Solar Power
It's still a rarity to see solar panels in D.C.—and in every other city I've ever lived in.
But I tend to believe that somewhere out there exists a bastion of solar believers—a land where rooftop after rooftop glints with those dark, futuristic panels that look like they were plucked from a spaceship.
Unfortunately, that place may not exist. Forbes.com has assembled a list of the top 15 metropolitan areas which have the greatest percentages of solar-powered homes. Many are out west, not surprisingly.
Among those on the list (in no particular order): San Antonio, Las Vegas, Austin, San Francisco, Tampa, Denver, Baltimore, Seattle...
San Jose sits at the top of the list with 9.6 homes using solar energy out of every 10,000 homes. So that's obviously well under one percent in that area–and that's the best we're doing.
3:27 pm
It's because solar costs moneyyyyyyyy! Lots of it! And the financing arrangements necessary to fund the capital outlay for installation rely on all kinds of public subsidies, which bogs everything down further. Bureacracy is such a drag on installation.
Unfortanately, solar isn't going to replace a meaningful amount of the energy used in the District or anywhere else. It just isn't powerful enough.
This is a painful 1-2 punch: high cost plus tepid results. The money is better spent on retrofits and weatherization... at least for now. Let the commercial properties go solar. (Lots of them have bigger roofs, anyway.) Residential folks should be laying down insulation instead!