Credit: David Walter Banks/The Washington Post

Let’s all take a moment to appreciate the roofs over our heads. They’re great at keeping snow, rain, and harsh sun from getting to us, day after day. Sure, sometimes they have their issues, but whether flat or gabled, generally roofs are always there, providing us with shelter. They might also be an untapped resource for electricity production.

The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) issued a report last week that analyzed the ability of America’s roofs to host solar panels. They looked at rooftops in 128 cities across the country, analyzing buildings large and small for their suitability for hosting photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, and how much power could be generated in each location. The estimates varied by state and by region, but overall, the report found that 39 percent of […]