Napa Valley seems to be a paradise for thieves who are aiming for solar panels. Between the summer of 2008 and today, there were fourteen solar panel thefts, and the estimated damage is $400,000. Around 400 solar panels were stolen, each being worth around $1,000.

Many wineries from Napa County were hit by these thieves. “ZD Wines” has been hit twice — and their representative says that it won’t happen again. “The winery now has a permanent solar installation, and every panel has a hard-to-get-off sticker on it.” He is also sure that when and if the thief tries to sell the stolen goods, it will be very clear to the potential buyer that the devices were stolen because of the sticker. “There are millions of panels and we never expected this. We were very surprised.”
Another company called Honig Vineyard and Winery has bit victimized several times in the past. However, the thieves were caught quickly.

Mike Thompson came up with a great idea to protect the owners. He will ask the Secretary of Energy to create equipment serial number registry that will be easily accessible. That would enormously help, as it would lower the possibility to resell the stolen goods. Everyone would be able to access the registry and check if everything is okay. Residents of Napa Valley (and everywhere else in the US) are hoping that this proposal will go through.

Until that becomes official, solar panel owners have decided to secure themselves by installing alarm systems. The solar panel is connected to an alarm and video camera system. “It may seem a little bit extreme,” says Jody Harris of Harris Ranch Napa Valley.

Some security experts have proposed that putting a link chain on the panel would slow down thieves, and they recommend them. Of course, combining that with an alarm system would be the best solution.

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