--- title: White House Solar Power: Low-Income Americans To Get Expanded Access description: The White House unveiled a solar energy plan that it said would help cut costs for low-income Americans while fighting climate change. canonical: https://time.com/3947741/solar-power-white-house/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-07T15:38:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:22.187Z article:section: Science og:title: The White House Wants To Increase Your Access To Solar Power og:description: The White House unveiled a solar energy plan that it said would help cut costs for low-income Americans while fighting climate change. og:url: https://time.com/3947741/solar-power-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt152308295bae2339/698859d1e53aba430b4de7e4/solar-panels.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4252 og:image:height: 2392 og:image:alt: solar panels og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The White House Wants To Increase Your Access To Solar Power twitter:description: The White House unveiled a solar energy plan that it said would help cut costs for low-income Americans while fighting climate change. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt152308295bae2339/698859d1e53aba430b4de7e4/solar-panels.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The White House Wants To Increase Your Access To Solar Power > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=15222abf-7cb4-4740-b96c-eba984ef93e7&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Is Climate Change Causing Extreme Weather? [Watch (HLS stream): Is Climate Change Causing Extreme Weather?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LQufbOt9.m3u8) (2:04)  _Published 2013-11-11. Is the frequency of extreme weather events a sign that global warming is gaining pace and exceeding predictions? Climate scientist Bill Patzert explains._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 7, 2015 3:38 PM UTC  Solar panels in countryside. Solar panels in countryside. Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 7, 2015 3:38 PM UTC On July 7, the White House unveiled a solar energy plan that it said would help cut energy costs for low and middle-income Americans while also fighting climate change. The plan will help finance solar improvements at American homes and expand solar power in federally subsidized housing, the White House said. “We know that our economy is strongest when every American has the tools to participate and get ahead,” said Brian Deese, the president’s senior climate change advisor, on a conference call. “As we look at driving innovation towards a clean energy economy, we need to work to expand opportunity for more families to reap the benefits of using cleaner sources of energy.” As part of the announcement, the White House said it would aim to install 300 megawatts of renewable energy in federally subsidized housing. The administration has already surpassed a goal of installing 100 megawatts of solar and other renewable energy sources in federal housing. The federal government says it will also make it easier for homeowners to take out loans of up to $25,000 for solar power installations. **Read More**: [Here’s The Most Lucrative Way to Fight Climate Change](http://time.com/3946708/business-climate-change-economy/) The White House also says the program will create jobs. The solar industry added jobs ten times faster than rest of the economy last year, according to the White House, and Obama recently announced a program to train 75,000 veterans to work in the solar energy industry. Solar power generation has expanded rapidly since the beginning of the Obama presidency, while costs have plummeted. The U.S. increased its solar energy output every three weeks in 2014 by an amount equivalent to all of 2008, according to Deese, and the cost of solar electricity has been sliced in half since 2010. Congressman Elijah Cummings, a supporter of the plan, said the solar energy expansion would benefit Americans like his constituents by providing cost savings. “I cannot tell you the number of calls I get from constituents who have to make choices about which bills they will pay each month,” he said on a conference call for journalists. “By giving people in struggling communities more money in their pockets each month, we’re helping them to secure their household finances so they can move from struggle to success.” ### See the World's Largest Solar Plants From Above  Desert Sunlight Solar Farm produces 550 megawatts of energy, equal to the output of a conventional power plant, near Palm Springs, Calif., where 8 million photovoltaic (PV) panels convert sunlight into electricity. Jamey Stillings for TIME  Desert Sunlight Solar Farm where 8 million solar panels power 160,000 California homes, in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings for TIME  The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, a 110-megawatt solar thermal power project, near Tonopah, Nev. Jamey Stillings  The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, near Tonopah, Nev. Jamey Stillings  The Crescent Dunes Solar Plant, near Tonopah, Nev. Jamey Stillings  The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, near Tonopah, Nev. Jamey Stillings  Mirrored heliostats dot the landscape at the Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  Construction of Ivanpah Solar Field One in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  Heliostat installation at the Ivanpah thermal solar plant in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  Mirrored heliostats at the Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave Desert in California. Jamey Stillings  Mirrored heliostats that reflect and concentrate desert sunshine surround a tower at the Ivanpah solar power station in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  350, 000 mirrored heliostats reflect light onto boilers generating 392 megawatts of energy at the Ivanpah solar power station in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings  The Ivanpah solar power station in the Mojave Desert, California. Jamey Stillings ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Extreme weather was more frequent in recent years. Is it a sign that global warming is gaining pace and exceeding predictions? Now, has extreme weather been more frequent in recent years? The evidence is definitely to the contrary. The United States has always had extreme weather. We look back on our weather history. It's been punishing. Floods, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, great forest fires. Is global warming happening? No doubt about it. We're living in a warmer world. We're living in a melting world, sea levels are rising. Now, direct evidence of the foot print or the finger print of global warming, we're seeing more frequent, more intense and longer lasting heat waves. As far as hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, floods and drought; the evidence is definitely not in. The consensus among almost all scientists is, is that it's a small finger print, not a large foot print. But what is true is that in this country, in the United States, we live in many areas with great risk to drought, [ NOISE ] to tornadoes, to hurricanes. And so part of the dialog is not only extreme weather and global warming but is the amount of risk we can tolerate. Now, looking to the future, global change, global warming it definitely is accelerating and it will have an impact on extreme weather. But at this point, not much. 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