Everyone loves rooftop solar. But there’s a problem.
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 November 2024
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, host Martine Powers talks with The Post’s climate zeitgeist reporter Shannon Osaka about the benefits and challenges of rooftop solar panels, and why rooftop solar is more expensive than solar farms. Shannon also shares advice about how to take advantage of solar tax credits before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Today’s show was produced by Peter Bresnan and Ariel Plotnick. It was edited by Lucy Perkins with help from Reena Flores and mixed by Justin Gerrish.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Can you just introduce yourself and say who you are and what you do? |
| 0:05.2 | I'm Shannon Osaka and I'm the climate zeitgeist reporter for the Washington Post. |
| 0:10.0 | Zitegeist. |
| 0:11.1 | I know. |
| 0:11.6 | What is climate zeitgeist? |
| 0:13.0 | Basically just whatever is new and bubbling up in the climate space. |
| 0:18.5 | You just cover whatever's in the ether on people's minds. |
| 0:22.0 | The climate vibes. |
| 0:26.6 | Recently, I sat down with Shannon because I wanted to ask her about something that has been |
| 0:31.0 | bubbling up for me. |
| 0:34.9 | So I am a homeowner. |
| 0:58.7 | I bought a house a few years ago. And literally as soon as I bought this house, I started hearing about rooftop solar panels. A few of my neighbors have solar panels on their roofs. And so I'd see the signs in the front of their yards or as I got to know them. We'd talk about like, ooh, your solar panels. And they'd be like, ah, my solar panels are so great. My bills are so cheap these days. |
| 1:03.5 | And then I started getting ads in the mail from companies that are like, hey, we could put solar panels on your roof for cheap, just invite us over. And so that's all to say, I was |
| 1:09.9 | really hyped about solar panels. I'm like, as soon as we get the money together, like we're definitely going to put panels on our roof. And then I read your story, which I mean, basically it sounds like rooftop solar panels might be a bad thing. And I was like, what? I'm not supposed to get them on my roof now? |
| 1:30.0 | I understand it can be devastating news for some people. Rooftop solar panels can be a good thing, |
| 1:35.8 | but are they the best, most efficient, cheapest way for us to switch to clean energy? The story |
| 1:41.8 | that I'm hearing from experts is not necessarily. |
| 1:46.1 | Solar power is a key part of the transition to clean energy. And it's growing quickly. |
| 1:52.2 | Rooftop solar has become a massive business in the last decade, which is why my mailbox |
| 1:57.4 | has been filling up with all these solar panel ads. |
| 2:05.8 | Solar energy, it's just, it's kind of like the poster child for clean energy. |
| 2:08.0 | It's like it's coming directly from the sun. |
... |
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