Heyduke
01-24-2014, 07:55 AM
“'Sustainability' is now a big baggy sack in which people throw all kinds of old ideas, hot air and dodgy activities in order to be able to greenwash their products and feel good.”-Kevin McCloud
I know a squatter in town. He lives in an abandoned house, and he has the combination for the lock on the dumpster behind our fanciest restaurant. He's got one solar panel, a cheap inverter and a deep cell RV battery. I bring beer over there sometimes. He likes to talk philosophy and history. With a day or two of charge (depending on cloud cover and solar duration), we can watch two movies on his little TV, eating prawns and asparagus and wild rice from the dumpster.
When I bring up the topic of going solar, most people react by saying, "Well, it would take me too many years to recover the $25,000 investment". Maybe it's not appropriate to attempt to convert your entire home (including American-sized fridge, washer and dryer, mega TV, toaster oven, microwave, 3 computers, blow dryer, etc.) to solar. Even without downsizing electricity usage, a home could just run the kitchen lights on a $500 solar investment, for example. A passive solar water heater could supply 100% of hot water in summer and significantly reduce conventional water heating in winter (water entering your water heating tank might be solar heated to 50 degrees rather than being piped in at 35 degrees).
Appropriate technology is a concept that combines engineering and philosophy. And, maybe public investment in a vast solar array out in the desert from which electricity is piped to Los Angeles is not the best application of solar technology. That's old-style thinking at work. The most attractive attribute of alternative energy is that it can be produced onsite, and can empower individuals. It's a means toward self-sufficiency, especially when combined with conservation.
I know a squatter in town. He lives in an abandoned house, and he has the combination for the lock on the dumpster behind our fanciest restaurant. He's got one solar panel, a cheap inverter and a deep cell RV battery. I bring beer over there sometimes. He likes to talk philosophy and history. With a day or two of charge (depending on cloud cover and solar duration), we can watch two movies on his little TV, eating prawns and asparagus and wild rice from the dumpster.
When I bring up the topic of going solar, most people react by saying, "Well, it would take me too many years to recover the $25,000 investment". Maybe it's not appropriate to attempt to convert your entire home (including American-sized fridge, washer and dryer, mega TV, toaster oven, microwave, 3 computers, blow dryer, etc.) to solar. Even without downsizing electricity usage, a home could just run the kitchen lights on a $500 solar investment, for example. A passive solar water heater could supply 100% of hot water in summer and significantly reduce conventional water heating in winter (water entering your water heating tank might be solar heated to 50 degrees rather than being piped in at 35 degrees).
Appropriate technology is a concept that combines engineering and philosophy. And, maybe public investment in a vast solar array out in the desert from which electricity is piped to Los Angeles is not the best application of solar technology. That's old-style thinking at work. The most attractive attribute of alternative energy is that it can be produced onsite, and can empower individuals. It's a means toward self-sufficiency, especially when combined with conservation.