The administration also said Friday that installation of electricity-generating solar panels on the White House is finally complete. Environmental groups had campaigned for Obama to replace solar panels that President Jimmy Carter had installed in 1979 that were removed during the Reagan administration. The White House said in October 2010 that it would install new panels, and work began in August.
The solar panels, said White House spokesman Matt Lehrich, demonstrate Obama's "commitment to lead by example to increase the use of clean energy in the U.S."
The panels are on the portion of the White House where the Obamas reside, will provide 6.3 kilowatts of solar generation. Lehrich said workers have made retrofits to the residence to improve energy efficiency, and the full project "is estimated to pay for itself in energy savings over the next eight years.
