Who originally installed solar panels on the White House and when?
Executive summary
Jimmy Carter was the first to install solar panels on the White House — 32 solar thermal panels were placed on the West Wing roof in the summer of 1979 and dedicated June 20, 1979 [1] [2]. Those panels were removed during the Reagan administration in the 1980s; later administrations added solar systems on White House grounds (not always on the residence roof), and the Obama administration announced a residence rooftop installation in 2010 that federal sources say was installed by 2013 [3] [4] [5].
1. The first installation: Carter’s 1979 rooftop solar demonstration
President Jimmy Carter ordered 32 solar water‑heating panels installed on the West Wing roof as a public demonstration of an energy policy born from the 1970s oil crises; Carter dedicated the panels on June 20, 1979 [1] [2]. Contemporary museum and archival records state the panels provided hot water for White House household uses and were explicitly described as a symbolic, policy‑forward act [3] [6].
2. Removal under Reagan and what “removed” meant in practice
The Carter panels were taken down during the Reagan administration in the 1980s when the White House roof was resurfaced; reporting and historical summaries describe the panels being removed and stored, with some later donated or repurposed [6] [3]. Yale and other histories connect that removal to a shift in federal energy priorities under Reagan, including the winding down of incentives that helped solar adoption [7].
3. Later additions: small systems and grounds installations
Long before the Obama-era rooftop system, the National Park Service oversaw the installation of three solar systems on White House grounds in 2002, including a 167‑panel photovoltaic array on a maintenance building and systems to heat water for grounds staff and the pool cabana — notable because these installations were on ancillary buildings rather than the residence roof [8] [9]. Coverage emphasizes these 2002 efforts drew little public attention compared with Carter’s ceremonial 1979 dedication [9].
4. The Obama announcement and reported installation timing
The Obama administration publicly announced plans in October 2010 to install photovoltaic panels and a solar hot‑water heater on the White House residence as a Department of Energy demonstration project, with Energy Secretary Steven Chu and CEQ chair Nancy Sutley announcing the competitive procurement [4]. Multiple secondary sources state the panels were installed in 2013 and that the 2010 announcement led to the residence rooftop reintroduction of solar power [5] [10] [11].
5. Who “originally installed” them — parsing the question
If “originally installed” asks who first put solar on the White House roof and when, the consistent historical record names President Jimmy Carter’s 1979 installation of 32 solar thermal panels as the original rooftop installation, dedicated June 20, 1979 [1] [2] [3]. If the question instead means “who installed the first modern PV panels on the residence roof,” sources point to the Obama administration’s 2010 announcement and reported 2013 installation as the next major rooftop PV effort [4] [5].
6. Disagreements, gaps and what sources do not say
Sources agree on Carter’s 1979 role and the Reagan‑era removal [1] [6]. They vary in detail about the 2010/2013 timeline: the Obama White House announced the project in 2010 [4], and several secondary accounts state panels were installed in 2013 [5] [11], but available sources do not provide a single definitive federal installation completion record in these search results beyond the announcement and later reportage. Available sources do not mention which contractor actually installed the 2013 panels in the provided documents.
7. Why this history matters — symbolism versus technical impact
The White House installations have often been symbolic signaling: Carter’s thermal array publicly linked energy policy to presidential leadership; Reagan’s removal signaled a different priority; the 2002 and 2010/2013 systems illustrate quieter, practical deployments on grounds and residence roofs [1] [6] [8] [4]. Histories and museum records emphasize the symbolic role and note that earlier systems primarily provided hot water and limited energy services rather than supplying the entire residence [3] [12].
Limitations: this summary uses only the provided search results and cites them directly. It does not assert details (such as the specific installer company in 2013) because those particulars are not present in the available reporting (not found in current reporting).