William Cockerham, Courant staff writer, wrote an article dated August 29, 1991 telling the story of how 32 solar panels, that once heated water used in the White House kitchen, were purchased by Unity College in Maine.
Unity College was, at that time, said to be the only undergraduate school in the nation that specialized in environmental sciences and natural resource development.
Some of the panels were to be used to heat water for the cafeteria and the men’s shower room at the college.
Dr. George C. Szego, a chemical engineer and founder of a pioneering solar technology company, dealt with President Jimmy Carter to install the panels on the White House. Unlike his successor, Jimmy Carter was an advocate of solar energy.
The panels were removed and put in storage by the Reagan Administration. Bad show! But it does underscore the overwhelming support the conservatives gave the fossil fuel industries over the next 28 years; which added America’s lopsided share to the world’s CO2 concentration of 390ppm; well above the 350ppm that all the smart people say is the maximum tolerable; and a long way above the 278ppm that humans lived with for millennia.
In January of 2010, after reading the article by Cockerham in a trade journal, I contacted Prof. Mike Womersley at Unity College to ask how the panels had been put to use.
He kindly told me that, indeed, 16 panels had been installed on the cafeteria roof: they were no longer functioning but they had for a long while. Others were in storage; three of them at museums; the Smithsonian, the Carter Library Museum in Atlanta, and on a traveling exhibit with the Canadian Architects Association. He said they expected to give most of the remaining panels to museums eventually.
This brings the story full circle, at least for one of the panels, 350.org is planning a Solar Road Trip in about a month: transporting one of the Carter Solar Panels from Unity College in Maine back to the White House.
Look for their blog about it at 350.org.
Thanks for sharing this history of the Carter Solar panels. Besides the 350.org solar road trip, Unity College also just gifted one of the panels for permanent display in the Solar Science and Technology Museum at the Solar Valley in Dezhou China. Solar energy pioneer and advocate Huang Ming was in Maine to accept the panel in an official ceremony. There was a great deal of press about this-one great story is from a local newspaper: http://waldo.villagesoup.com/news/story/chinese-entrepreneur-accepts-white-house-solar-panel-with-humility-vision/343698
ReplyDeleteRob Constantine
Vice President for Advancement, Unity College
Solar power for homes can be a real money saver, as they provide hot water, heating and energy for cooking. Sure there is an initial investment but it will pay for itself over and over again.
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