The total eclipse shows us how important solar energy is to the US

View of the solar eclipse from the Dudley Observatory on Monday, August 21st, 2017, in Schenectady, New York. | Photo by Lori Van Buren / Albany Times Union via Getty Images You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, and the total eclipse is a stark reminder of that adage when it comes to the key role solar energy currently plays in the US.
More than 31 million people — nearly 10 percent of the population in the US — live in an area that will experience the tot