Phat Energy offers solar panels not only to businesses, but to homeowners as well.
The use of solar energy is not a new concept to the area. Built in 1900, the Fremont Hotel that used to stand on Fremont Avenue near the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station, utilized solar panels to heat water. The hotel closed in 1920.
"There were a lot of different ways to use solar power," Hartley said. "In the late 19th century many Pasadena homes used solar to heat water."
Fifty years ago scientists first introduced the solar cell that would convert light into electricity. At that time news reports heralded it as a new path to harnessing the energy of the sun. Despite those lofty dreams, solar power today generates less than one percent of the electricity in the United States, according to published reports. However the study of solar power never stopped; it got a boost of interest in the 1970s during the Carter administration.
"By the end of this century, I want this nation to derive 20 percent of all the energy we use from the sun," said President Jimmy Carter.
The White House installed a solar water heater and Carter released federal dollars in an effort to study solar energy. Those dollars began to dwindle after Carter left office four years later. Then, another boost into research and support came during the Clinton administration. At the end of the 20th century a reported 10,000 American homes were being entirely powered by solar energy.
"There have been a lot of improvements in solar electric panels since the early '70s," Hartley said. "Major manufacturing names are now building solar panels. The warranties of many of these are for 25 years."
