Following the lead of presidents from George W. Bush to Jimmy Carter , the Obama White House–or specifically the Obama family’s living quarters–will get solar panels. While Carter’s solar thermal panels are long gone (one of them is in China and the Obama White House last month rebuffed the return of another), photovoltaics installed by President Bush the Younger grace some of the other buildings on the White House grounds and, like most solar panels in the U.S., provide enough electricity to heat the pool, among other uses. But, in the spring of 2011, a new solar hot-water heater and array of solar cells will begin producing some of the hot water and electricity consumed by the first family. [More]













Scientific American - Technology