Global warming is now global heat.

The Northern hemisphere is being hit by a catastrophic heat wave and all bets are off for the Australian summer. Billions of people will have to live with and fight climate change.

It will take an “all of the above” approach to slow and then stabilize greenhouse gas emissions. Even millions of PowerBlocs will not be enough. We need to eat less animal protein. Fly less. Insulate our homes. And buy white paint.

We have plenty of roof space to produce the energy we need.

At YouSolar, we believe that solar panels belong on roofs and not in the desert because solar on roofs creates energy where it is consumed and does not destroy natural habitats. In theory, covering all the world’s roofs with solar panels could provide all the energy we need. Solar panels not only produce clean energy. Compared to a black or another dark-colored roof, they also reduce the amount of heat absorbed from the sun’s radiation and dispensed into the atmosphere.

In practice, it is not realistic to cover 100% of all roof areas with solar panels due to irregular roof shapes, setbacks required by building codes, roof areas with an unfavourable orientation toward the sun, and various other reasons. But there is a surprisingly simple way to reduce the contribution of those remaining roof surfaces to global heating.

Paint them white.

YouSolar is fortunate to have an amazing landlord, Dollinger Properties, located in Redwood City. A family-owned business that prides itself in renting well-maintained real estate. When we recently needed a new roof, Dollinger chose a white roof.

YouSolar’s test solar array on our new roof. White roofs cool the building and Earth. Cooler solar panels also produce more electricity.

Our white roof cools the planet by an estimated 1 million kilowatt hours per year.

The average solar irradiance in Santa Clara is 5.87 kWh/m2/day, or 2,143 kWh/m2/year. Assuming that the white roof reflects 70% of this energy while a traditional roof reflects only 20%, our new roof with its 1,200 square meters of surface area reduces the heat retained by Earth by over 1 million kilowatt hours per year!

Our new white roof also keeps our solar test array much cooler. Cooler solar panels create more electricity.

According to an Australian study, solar panels cool daytime temperatures in a way similar to increasing albedo via white roofs. So we are getting the best of both worlds: part of our roof produces energy, and the remainder reflects it into space.

The PowerBloc can make an important contribution to fighting climate change and it will prove critical in climate adaptation for our customers. But YouSolar is only one solution in combating climate change. We need “all of the above”.

And “all of the above” should also include white paint! 😎