The future looks bright for solar power. More than 1 million homes across the United States now run-on energy generated by rooftop solar panels, and a new system is installed every four minutes. Solar panels are cheaper than they’ve ever been; installation costs have dropped by 70 percent in the last decade. And because solar is growing in popularity and declining in cost, more companies offer services that make rooftop installation easy. 

That’s great news for all of us—and for birds, too. Climate change is the number one threat to U.S. birds, according to Audubon scientists, and to combat that threat, we need to end our reliance on fossil fuels that produce carbon pollution. With solar power more accessible than ever, many people can now do their part to transition to cleaner sources of energy at home, and save money on electricity bills in the long run. 

Audubon supports solar power development in the following ways: 

• Audubon collaborates with the PV Solar Industry in the Avian Solar Work Group to facilitate research on birds’ interactions with PV solar panels, and what might be done to avoid harm. 
• We forcefully advocate for the enforcement of existing federal laws like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that avoids, minimizes and mitigates any adverse effects on birds and their habitat.