White House to boost use of solar panels

President Barack Obama announced executive orders to increase the use of solar power, boost energy efficiency in federal buildings and increase the number of jobs in the renewable energy field on Friday.

The president made the announcement during a visit to Wal-Mart in Mountain View, California and highlighted commitments by corporations to boost solar generation at their facilities.

Wal-Mart, Apple Inc, Yahoo Inc, Google Inc and Ikea were among the companies making such commitments.

Obama said: "It's the right thing to do for the planet. The sooner we work together to adapt the economy to this reality of climate change, the more likely it is that we do right by our kids, and leave a more stable world."

The president also announced that an additional US$2 billion will be channelled towards energy efficiency upgrades to federal government buildings over the next three years.

The White House outlined how financial institutions including Citigroup Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, are launching plans for "large scale investment and innovative programmes" to develop solar and renewable energy installations.

The Obama administration’s energy policies are also designed to support efforts at community colleges so that 50,000 workers can join the solar industry by 2020.

An Obama spokesman also announced the completion of a project to install solar panels at the White House itself. The panels were American-made and part of an energy retrofit that would improve the building's energy efficiency.

"The project, which helps demonstrate that historic buildings can incorporate solar energy and energy efficiency upgrades, is estimated to pay for itself in energy savings over the next eight years," spokesman Matt Lehrich said.