Renewable energy vs. cultural preservation - Solar, Wind and Land: Conflicts in Renewable Energy Development - page 134

hopefully come when society better recognizes the need to reconcile the
competing interests of these groups. Hopefully, on that day, policymakers
will be well-equipped with promising proposals.
Solar energy and historic preservation
Not surprisingly, very different types of conflicts between renewable energy
and cultural preservation tend to arise in dense, urban settings situated
great distances from tribal areas. In particular, distributed solar energy
installations in urban areas are increasingly running up against historic
preservation laws as solar panels appear on more and more rooftops across
the globe.
Solar panels vs. historic streetscapes in Washington's Cleveland Park
The struggle of one Washington, D.C., neighborhood to handle a permit
request for a rooftop solar panel installation illustrates how historic preser-
vation efforts can clash with solar energy development. The Cleveland Park
Historic District is a picturesque suburban neighborhood roughly five miles
northwest of Washington's National Mall. Cleveland Park was named after
Grover Cleveland and is built partly on the late U.S. president's former
estate. 88 As the district's own historical society describes it, the area features
a “cohesive collection of single-family residences, apartment buildings, a
vibrant commercial corridor with stores and restaurants, schools, a library,
firestation and other amenities,” 89 most of which were constructed in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Cleveland Park Historic District is not as culturally or historically
significant as the White House, the Washington Monument, or dozens of
other iconic sites within Washington, D.C. Nonetheless, the district has
appeared on the National Register of Historic Places since the 1980s.
Because of this designation, all proposals for renovations or additions to
buildings within the district must undergo a detailed design review and
comply with a lengthy set of restrictions. 90 These onerous rules seek to
protect the district's historic look and feel, thereby helping to preserve
property values as well. 91
In 2012, a controversy arose in Cleveland Park when a pair of neigh-
borhood residents, Mark Chandler and Laurie Wingate, decided they
would like to install a solar array on the rooftop of their century-old home.
Washington is in the planet's northern hemisphere, so the most productive
potential location for a solar array on their home was the building's sloped,
south-facing roof, which tended to receive more direct sunlight throughout
the year. Panels installed on that part of the roof could have supplied
roughly 70 percent of the home's electricity needs. 92
Unfortunately, Chandler and Wingate knew that putting panels on that
area of the roof would not be an option because the home's south side faced