The Solar Energy Industries Association, the national trade association for the U.S. solar industry, reports that solar power has grown in the U.S. at a compounded annual rate of 59% since the solar investment tax credit was implemented in 2006. However, tariffs on certain products, including solar panels, could throw a wrench into solar power’s future prospects.
Roosevelt Island, a sliver of land in the East River next to Manhattan, is the home of Cornell Tech, an engineering campus of Cornell University that opened in September 2017. Its academic hub, the Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Center, was built with innovative architectural designs that feature many sustainable technologies, including solar power (Figure 1). Their electricity bill is $0, thanks to the solar panels high atop the roof that generate enough power to sustain the large and architecturally significant building.