Doctors write ‘solar prescriptions’ for poor patients using power from their rooftop panels

One of the arguments in favor of distributed energy (mostly behind-the-meter solar on rooftops) is that it allows us to do interesting things with electricity that can’t be done with the old model of getting power only from a big plant far away.

A terrific example is happening in Boston, where Boston medical Center physicians are writing “solar prescriptions”. As NPR explains (full article is here) the program relies on 519 solar panels installed on the roof of one of the center’s office buildings. Half of the energy generated by the panels helps power the center but the rest goes to patients who receive a monthly credit of about $50 on their utility bills to help patients who couldn’t afford the electricity needed to run breathing assistance machines, recharge wheelchairs, turn on air conditioning or keep their refrigerators plugged in for storing their medications.

Here’s the website for the program, called Clean Power Prescription.

This is very, very cool.