Can Chicago Corporations Make Solar Energy an Employee Benefit?

Solar panel installation on a California residence
(see "Home Solar Power Discounts Are Worker Perk in New Program" )

A recent report says that four major corporations are facilitating the adoption of solar panels by their employees. "The program, offered through Geostellar, an online marketer of solar systems, will be available to more than 100,000 employees and will include options for their friends and families in the United States and parts of Canada." (See "Home Solar Power Discounts Are Worker Perk in New Program" by Diane Cardwell in The New York Times, October 22, 2014) The four companies are Cisco Systems, 3M, Kimberly-Clark and National Geographic.

Nice list.

(So where are the Chicago companies?)

Herewith four suggestions for Chicago area companies that should get on the bandwagon and offer the Geostellar program -- or one like it -- to their employees.

The Gypsum Construction Handbook

USG

I've long thought USG should make its next move in solar panels.

USG -- i.e. U.S. Gypsum -- produces sheet rock. They pretty much wrote the book on modern construction using panels of pre-fabricated board. And USG is very good at mammoth production on a global scale and at moving the product through the distribution change to the point of installation.

Substitute solar panels for wall panels and -- voila! -- a reinvigorated business for the 21st century!

(The company has already converted one of its plants in California to solar energy -- in "Plaster City," naturally.)

Next step: encourage the company's employees to get with the program.


Walgreens

Walgreens in Evanston - solar, solar, solar

Walgreens opened a  prototype "green" store in Evanston a year ago. (See "Walgreens Debuts Nation’s First Net Zero Energy Retail Store in Evanston, Ill.")

It's high time Walgreens made its next move.

Besides, Walgreens needs a good PR move to counter the laudable move by competitor CVS to stop selling cigarettes. (Not to mention some unpleasant PR about the company's tax domicile this past summer.)


United Airlines

United Airlines is in a tough business, climate crisis amelioration-wise. It's hard to run an airline without burning tons of fossil fuels -- and that's not going to change any time soon.

But United can help offset the harm it does burning jet fuel. It is already working on several steps. It could take a giant leap by encouraging its employees to go solar.


McDonald's

McDonald's restaurant in Australia goes solar

I live next door to a McDonald's store and I eat something there at least once a day. So I'm very alert to the continuous effort the corporation must make to keep its name in front of the public in a positive way, and to encourage patronage.

What better way than some sort of program that builds on the famous trade dress of McDonald's restaurants' red-and-yellow roofs?

Who knows - by the time McDonald's gets done encouraging its franchisees and employees to go solar, it may find itself in the business of promoting solar to its retail customers, too! (Solar Monopoly®, anyone?)


A challenge and an opportunity

Insolation: Whr/sq m per day
Chicago receives about 3,500 Whr/sq m per day
(sourced at coyoteblog)

Chicago is not in a great location for electricity generation from solar panels.

In fact, as the map at right shows, Chicago is just over the edge into the really disadvantageous, low-insolation portion of the continental U.S.

But look at it another way: if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere, right?


Clearly, some visionary people -- from the corporate sponsors, from a benefit facilitator such as Geostellar, and from local government -- need to come together at the table . . . .


Related posts

The U.S. could take a lesson from the "command economy" in China about government setting a bold new direction in using alternative energy.

(See #chinaEARTHusa -- Solar Panels at the Crux on the Scarry Thoughts blog)

What If Chicago Started to "Think Different" About Electricity?

The way I look at it, I'm the perfect person to have an opinion on the important role of Chicago in shaping the discourse on future electrical energy generation choices in the Midwest.

Illinois has a complicated relationship with coal, and I have a complicated relationship with coal. (See "I was an anthracite miner . . . . " on Scarry Thoughts.)

Illinois has an even more complicated relationship with nuclear energy -- if such a thing is possible -- and I also have a complicated relationship with nuclear energy. (See "Chicago, IL: Zero Carbon AND Zero Nuclear!".)

Location of Illinois Basin

I'll get into all the fascinating details of both of those coincidences in future posts, but the main points are these:

(1) Illinois sits atop one of the richest fields of coal in the world. Unfortunately, what we now know about the climate crisis and the need to move to a zero-carbon economy needs we need to leave it in the ground. (Sorry.) And this is true notwithstanding a barrage of industry re-branding about "Clean Coal!"

(2) Illinois also has the largest number of nuclear power plants. As Fukushima disaster has shown us, the risks associated with nuclear power simply can't be swept under the carpet. (Sorry.) And this is true notwithstanding a barrage of industry re-branding suggesting that nuclear is the solution to obtaining zero-carbon energy.

(Luckily, there is a long-standing alliance of activists, such as Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS), getting the truth about nuclear power plants in Illinois out there.)

Fowler Ridge Wind Energy Facility, Benton County, Indiana

It's not immediately obvious how Chicago and Illinois can move quickly to get electricity in a zero-carbon manner.  But here are a few initial thoughts . . .

(1) There are good options. (Believe it or not, we actually have wind and sun here.)

(2) We'll have to be disciplined about not getting distracted by bad options. (Carbon sequestration? Uh, I don't think so. And don't even get me started about natural gas and fracking.)

(3) It's not just about us; it's about the grid we're part of.

(4) It's not just about average electricity output; peak output (driven in turn by hence peak demand) is key.

(5) Chicago can play a role by leading with innovative pricing and valuation mechanisms.

(6) Um . . . would it help if we turned out some of the lights?

More on all of this in future posts that will drill down on specific issues.

Chicago skyline - Earth Hour 2013

Related posts

Granddaddy Melker probably would have been proud to have mined any kind of coal. But he was especially proud to have been an anthracite coal miner.

(See "I was an anthracite miner . . . . " on Scarry Thoughts.)

According to the Chicago-based Nuclear Energy Information Service, "Illinois is by far the most nuclear state in the United States . . . . Illinois was also home to the first commercial power reactor . . . one of the first commercial power reactors to close prematurely . . . . ComEd’s two large PWR reactors in Zion, IL also had to close prematurely . . . . We also have the first and only commercial storage facility for high level waste . . . Besides the 3 plants which closed prematurely, Illinois currently has eleven operating nukes – far more than any other state . . . etc. etc."

(See Chicago, IL: Zero Carbon AND Zero Nuclear! )