Every Four Minutes, Another American Home or Business Goes Solar (Op-Ed)

http://www.livescience.com/45988-solar-panels-going-up-nationwide.html

?1366318053

Every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar.

U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned this statistic in his 2014 State of the Union Address, and that rate has ramped up due to reasons that may have nothing to do with addressing climate change.

While I'd like to imagine that solar panels will continue to spread like wildfire thanks to an individual feeling of responsibility to the planet, I'm not quite so naïve. There are a few reasons why I think solar is and will continue on such a hot streak. They are the same reasons Americans do anything en masse — solar is simple, cheap and cool.

Solar is on sale

The price of solar panels has dropped 80 percent since 2008. In fact, most homeowners choosing solar are middle-income families looking for ways to help keep household costs down. Lease options now let homeowners go solar with zero up-front costs and savings on their energy bill every month thereafter.