June 20, 1979
President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter climbed onto the White House roof to celebrate the installation of solar-energy panels there: 32 photovoltaic panels that generated enough energy to provide hot water for the entire White House. During his term Carter also had an energy-efficient wood-burning stove installed in the drafty White House residential quarters. In 1986, President Reagan had the solar panels removed and put into a federal storage facility in Virginia, stating that the energy crisis that had affected both foreign and domestic policy during Carter’s term would not be a factor during his own.
