Solar is cheap, if you steal it
The skyrocketing prices of metals — nickel, copper, uranium, zinc… you name it — has led to a lot of theft over the past two years. Junkyards are being raided, hydro and cable companies are seeing a rise in the theft of copper cabling, and homeowners with ornamental pieces on their lawns are seeing them disappear. I’ve often wonder when the same is going to happen to solar panels? They fit the criteria, after all. Expensive. Increasingly in demand. And more accessible to steal as more homes and businesses strap them to their rooftops. My prediction is that within a couple of years we’ll be struggling to deal with an emerging grey market in stolen solar panels.
In fact, it’s already started.
Makes me wonder whether there are some spinoff businesses related to primary clean-energy markets. What about solar panels that are wired for security — i.e. if somebody tries to steal one an alarm goes off and a security service is sent to the site. Could be a good extension of existing security businesses. Same goes for window washers who want to expand into the solar-panel cleaning business.
Tyler Hamilton is senior energy reporter and columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the cleantech market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper. Tyler can be reached at tyler@cleanbreak.ca
August 16th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I anoyone aware of a company that provide security systems for solar panels as described in this article?
Thanks.
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:00 am
There is a solar cleaning company out there, The Solar Maid Company. Not sure if they provide security products or not.