Solar Panel Thieves are Back, and in Bigger Numbers
In 2008 I wrote about a less friendly movement rising along with the eco-friendly solar power movement: solar panel theft. Since then, solar panel sales have continued to rise steadily and, unfortunately, so have solar panel thefts. In the last two weeks alone, 
two San Francisco schools were struck by thieves, a New York Times blog reports on Monday, removing some $50,000 worth of solar equipment. More generally, solar panel theft has increased at a comparable rate with solar panel installations nationwide.
SolarInsure, a brokerage firm that offers insurance plans for solar power systems, recorded a 17 percent increase in reported thefts in 2009 compared to 2008 numbers. California, which leads the nation in solar installations, experienced the highest increase in thefts: up 26 percent from 2008 to 2009. In response, SolarInsure will no longer offer insurance for systems without some form of integrated security measure.
One such measure comes from start-up GridLock Solar Security. It puts each solar panel in an array on a circuit wired to a main security unit. If any panel in the system is removed, the circuit is disrupted, an alarm sounds and the police are automatically alerted.
Tigo Energy, which develops programs that monitor and record power output from solar energy systems, has added a feature to its product that it likens to the popular OnStar system for automobiles. A chip embedded in each panel wirelessly communicates with a central monitoring unit. If communication is broken, the panel deactivates and alerts are sent out. Also, that removed panel cannot be reconnected elsewhere without a special security code.
On a legislative scale, Mike Thompson, a congressman from Napa Valley, has worked to create a national registry of solar panel serial codes into the Solar Technology Roadmap Act in order to discourage theft. That bill has passed the House and is working its way through the Senate.
Buildings unoccupied at night, such as schools, are sitting ducks for solar panel thieves. Unfortunately, these are also buildings — especially schools — where solar power is doing its most symbolic good. To make matters worse, tight-budgeted schools are unlikely to have the resources to re-install new panels if stolen equipment cannot be recovered.
Hopefully security systems like those described above will help bring the rise in panel thefts to a halt. And if nothing else, the wave of thefts further proves that solar energy is in high demand, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call thievery a green job. Although, maybe the culprits will be sent off to green jails.
Photo Credit: Off the Grid
Posted on May 6th in Solar News by Dan.