Commentary: Want more solar but less solar-panel sprawl? Look up.

America wants more solar power, but not at any cost. Across the country, opposition is rising when open land gives way to fields of panels. The most convenient sites — close to substations and transmission — have largely been developed.

From here on, expanding utility-scale solar will increasingly mean longer lines, higher costs and more local resistance.

There’s a better path: Put solar where we’ve already built — on our roofs.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that there are roughly 3,000 square miles of solar-suitable rooftop area in the continental United States — enough to generate about 1.4 trillion kilowatt-hours annually. That’s on the order of one-third of today’s electricity demand. It’s not the whole answer, but it’s a large, practical share that avoids the toughest tradeoffs.

Rooftop solar has three decisive advantages.

First, it meets demand where it already exists. Power produced on homes, warehouses, schools and factories reduces the need for long-distance transmission and the losses that come with it.

Second, it sidesteps land-use conflict. No forests cleared, no farms displaced, no “not in my backyard” battles — because the “yard” is already developed.

Third, it improves resilience. Distributed generation, especially when paired with storage, can keep critical loads running through storms and outages.

This approach doesn’t eliminate grid investment; distribution upgrades and smart controls will still be needed. But it meaningfully reduces the scale and urgency of new transmission.

The missing piece is a financing model that aligns incentives for homeowners, utilities and government.

Consider one practical framework: The homeowner invests in a new roof designed to last 25 to 30 years — the same horizon as modern solar panels. The utility finances and owns the solar installation, including panels, inverters and maintenance. Government incentives — tax credits, accelerated depreciation or direct rebates — reduce the upfront cost and improve returns.

In exchange, the homeowner grants roof access and purchases a portion of the electricity at a favorable, stable rate. Excess generation flows to the grid.

The utility earns a regulated return on its investment and shares revenue from the power produced. The homeowner benefits from lower and more predictable energy costs without the burden of maintaining the system. The grid gains distributed capacity exactly where demand exists.

This “roof-lease utility model” removes the biggest barriers: high upfront costs for homeowners, revenue uncertainty for utilities and the need for vast new land. It also scales naturally — from single-family homes to warehouses, schools and industrial facilities.

Policy should enable this alignment. Standardized interconnection, on-bill financing and performance-based incentives can turn millions of roofs into productive energy assets. Utilities should be rewarded for integrating distributed generation, not discouraged by it.

We don’t have to choose between clean energy and the landscapes people love. We can start with the millions of acres of roof we already have. A roofs-first strategy won’t do everything — but it can do a lot, quickly, and with far less conflict.

If we’re serious about scaling solar, the smartest place to begin is right above our heads.

Larry Jordan, a retired electrical engineer, lives in Amsterdam.