The Morning Report
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The New York Times looks to San Diego today to highlight the increasing demand for solar energy.
Solar, it seems, is starting to go mainstream, in part from the help of the $3 billion influx of state money through the California Solar Initiative. The Times looks at the planned expansion of the industry, which state officials hope to jumpstart through the solar initiative’s investment.
The Times‘ Gregory Dicum reports:
William Leininger is not your typical environmental zealot. A Navy commander who works as a doctor at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, he is a Republican and lives in one of California’s most conservative counties, in a development of neat lawns and Spanish-style houses. His 2,400-square-foot, single-level house — “the usual Southern California design,” he said recently — is barely distinguishable from its neighbors, apart from one detail: the red-tile roof is crammed with solar panels. … Companies are responding not only to an increase in demand, but also to a change in the type of consumers interested in going solar. Unlike the do-it-yourself tinkerers who once made up much of the home photovoltaic market, the people fueling the current growth spurt are interested in hands-off user friendliness.