Rooftop Revolution How Solar Power Can Save Our Economy#and Our Planet#from Dirty Energy

by KENNEDY, DANNY

• ISBN13: 9781609946647
• ISBN10: 1609946642
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-09-03
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Summary

In the wake of the Solyndra collapse, solar power's detractors-particularly the fans of fossil fuel-have been proclaiming that solar is just a hippie pipe dream. But as Danny Kennedy points out, Solyndra failed precisely because it was unable to compete in a red hot industry. The signs are everywhere: the United States and China have for the first time invested more money in clean, renewable energy than in dirty fossil fuels. Germany already gets 25% of its power from the sun-and created 250,000 clean energy jobs in the process. Warren Buffet just bought a $2 billion solar project in the Southwestern desert. But these are facts the mainstream media has largely failed to report In this succinct, hard-hitting book Kennedy shows that solar can save money, create jobs, and restore the environment-it's only politics and perception that are preventing it. For consumers, he describes the technological advances that have now made solar so cost-efficient and practical it's now competitive with gas and coal electricity. He breaks down the 100,000 jobs solar has already created in America and explains how it could create far more. Decrying the lack of leadership in this area on the part of both political parties, he outlines how we can take advantage of this historic opportunity to free ourselves from dependence on destructive and declining forms of energy and unleash the unlimited power of the sun.

Author Biography

Danny Kennedy systematically refutes the lies spread by solar's opponents-that it is expensive, inefficient, and unreliable; that it is kept alive only by subsidies; that it can't be scaled; and many other untruths. He shows that we need a rooftop revolution to break the entrenched power of the coal, oil, nuclear, and gas industries. Solar energy can create more jobs, return our nation to prosperity, and ensure the sustainability and safety of our planet. Now is the time to move away from the dangerous energy sources of the past and unleash the amazing potential of the sun. Danny Kennedy is the founder and president of Sungevity, Inc., a leading residential solar power company. He was named Innovator of die Year by the PBS program Planet Forward in 2011.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Prologue: An Energy Primer	p. 1
Sunny Side Up	p. 15
Empires of the Sun Dirty Energy's Petty Politics	p. 35
Role Models for the Rooftop Revolution	p. 53
Take a Walk on the Sunny Side	p. 81
Hot Jobs	p. 109
Energized	p. 127
Epilogue: Fire 2.0
My Ride on the Solar Coaster-So Far	p. 143
Notes	p. 163
Additional Resources	p. 183
Acknowledgments	p. 185
Index	p. 189
About the Author	p. 196
About Sungevity	p. 198
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