Solar panels
I am now back in California for a bit to visit friends, family, and the wild. I just saw the new solar panels my parents have put in on the roof. Most days contribute nothing to their power bill as a result, though they do have a mysterious efficiency loss on hot days that may be due to the DC-AC conversion. I'll have to think about it.
I am reminded again of the strangeness of the fact that these things aren't more widespread. I suppose most politicians don't want infinite renewable power because it makes the oil companies sad and it gave Ronald Reagan the heeby-jeebies. The technology isn't new. In 1933 the Chicago world fair was lighted with power from the star, Arcturus, 100 light years away. Yet despite the potential, solar power remains extremely inefficient, quite possibly because vital R&D is ridiculously underfunded. Shit, guys, they don't need much. Add on a one penny tax per gallon of gasoline to support it - that would translate into ten times the current federal solar power research budget, and your spare change might solve the world's energy challenges!
I say it's time to listen to the advice of the father of the light bulb:
"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
-Thomas Edison, 1931
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I am reminded again of the strangeness of the fact that these things aren't more widespread. I suppose most politicians don't want infinite renewable power because it makes the oil companies sad and it gave Ronald Reagan the heeby-jeebies. The technology isn't new. In 1933 the Chicago world fair was lighted with power from the star, Arcturus, 100 light years away. Yet despite the potential, solar power remains extremely inefficient, quite possibly because vital R&D is ridiculously underfunded. Shit, guys, they don't need much. Add on a one penny tax per gallon of gasoline to support it - that would translate into ten times the current federal solar power research budget, and your spare change might solve the world's energy challenges!
I say it's time to listen to the advice of the father of the light bulb:
"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
-Thomas Edison, 1931
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