President Barack Obama is a strong proponent of solar power and has encouraged investing in it since he assumed office. Obama has been heralded as a hero and visionary regarding the greening of America, and for keeping hope alive that one day our country will become energy independent. Now our 44th president has set some wheels in motion to green up the White House even further by reinstalling solar panels.

Former President Jimmy Carter put them on, only to have them removed years later by Ronald Reagan. But Obama has approved a bidding process to have solar panels and a solar hot-water heater installed.

According to White House officials, the president wants the solar to sit atop the First Family's residence.

The discussion surrounding the reinstallation of the solar panels has been kicked around for quite some time now. The move to put the wheels in motion kept being put off, says Bill McKibben, an environmental activist who made it his business to push for the installation. He tells the AP:

"We keep hearing, 'We'll see' and 'it's complicated,'" McKibben said at the time. "Compared with the other things Obama has to do, it seems relatively easy. You can't filibuster the roof."

Installing anything on the White House roof is easier said than done and can involve a lot of red tape. The roof of the president's residence is a No. 1 homeland security priority that can turn into an intricate web involving anyone from the Secret Service to the White House Historical Association.

The announcement comes on the one-year anniversary of an executive order signed by the president that called on the federal government to lead in establishing a clean-energy economy.