The Essentia Blog

Solar energy is so popular in California, solar panels are being stolen.  Tom McCalmont, president of Regrid Power, was victim to one such burglary where they took $30,000 worth of panels from the roof of his solar energy business.  A homeowner, Glenda Hoffman, has fallen victim to three separate burglaries in which a total of 16 solar panels have been removed from the roof of her home - she now sleeps with a shotgun and a .22 just in case they come back.

Thieves then try to sell the panels on the internet - one such thief was not so lucky as detectives from the police department ended up being his customers after numerous $1500.00 panels were stolen from a California toll road.  He charged only $100.00 for the panels and when he showed up to deliver them he was led away in cuffs.  Authorities are now recommending that customers engrave their driver’s license number into their solar panels for easy identification.