Police Recover Stolen Solar Panels from El Cerrito, CA Church

One unforeseen byproduct of the renewable energy boom is the solar criminal. These green-eyed miscreants have been pilfering from churches and schools for the last two years. The motive is easy: money. Solar panels are a hot commodity worth up to $2,000 a pop. Why churches and schools? Their roofs are inconspicuous and hard to see from the ground, they usually have a lot of land buffering them from their neighbors and you know nobody’s home at night. So why don’t these panel pilferers get caught? They do, now.

Police in El Cerrito, California have recovered more than $70,000 in solar panels stolen from Windrush School, a private school known for its eco-friendly attitude and architecture. Last Saturday night, janitors at the school noticed a 56-panel hole in the school’s solar array. On Sunday, a police officer noticed a man walking behind his house with a solar panel. The police questioned the man, David Avelar, throughout the night and eventually learned the locations of most of the stolen panels. Avelar was booked on suspicion of the thefts and police set out to recover the remaining panels. Windrush School estimates that repair and replacement will cost up to $100,000. The 56 panels stolen were each worth $1,900.

Now the tone of this story thus far has been rather light. Panels stolen, panels recovered. All’s well that ends well. But truthfully, this sort of thing is frustratingly stupid. There are many who would argue that, environmentally, humankind continues to shoot itself in the foot, teasing at renewable energy while still wholly in the arms of fossil fuels. But I can’t think up a sillier way to shoot ourselves in the foot than to steal solar panels off of rooftops, especially school and church rooftops. Please, future panel-pinching hopefuls, remember that solar panels are worth more than money.

Photo Credit: NewsLI

Posted on January 18th in Solar News by Dan.