We have an amazing source of near constant free energy in
our Sun, so why don’t every home have a solar panel array in place? It is 2016
after all. Think about it. The first internal combustion engine
automobile became generally available to the public in 1908, just 22 years
after its invention. It was made by ford and named the Model T.
The invention of solar panels predates automobiles by over
30 years. Although rudimentary and inefficient, it wasn’t until 1941 that the
solar cell came along. That was 55 years ago and yet, I don’t have a solar
array and a bank of batteries powering my house. Why? It is still too expensive. Again I ask
why. Why is it so expensive for us to get off fossil fuel generated electricity
and onto solar energy cells?
We are risking a future nightmare if we lose power.
Heckfire, if we lose juice for just 24 hours, most of us are utterly miserable
and anxiously ready to revolt. (Get it?) Never mind. The idea of living off the
grid for most of us is just a fantasy and the good old days of no electricity
and outhouse toilets, is not something I don’t want to experience again.
John Wells, a New York
photographer liquidated his assets and bought a plot of desert land near Terlingua, Texas
about 10 years ago. His homestead is
called the Field Lab and he blogs about it daily. It is an experiment in off
the grid living and yes, he has solar panels to provide electricity. He runs the
Southwest Texas Alternative Energy and Sustainable Living Field Laboratory, a
personal experiment in green living.
In his own words, he writes, “I was paying $1,000 a month in
taxes. I decided I would try a debt-free lifestyle. I knew a couple, Abe and
Josie Connally, who were practicing sustainable living in West
Texas, so in October 2007 I packed up and moved. Now I own 40
acres in the desert, and my property taxes are $100 a year.”
He has a huge scientific following and I guess I can say my
attention also, as I have followed him since the inception of the experiment.
Don’t get me wrong, I want a simpler life as do most of us, if we think about
it. I remember a time when things were not as complicated and yearn for them occasionally.
One of my fantasies is sitting in front of a log cabin on the side of a
mountain and drinking coffee over a small campfire. At the end of the day, I
would turn on the lights inside and cook on my gas stove and get a beverage out
of the refrigerator, just like I do here in Baytown.
“As soon as I got here, I built the basic box of my house in
ten days and moved right in. I used four-by-eight-foot panels of oriented
strand board, which is like plywood but cheaper. There are seven little windows
and a big glass door.”
Back to the Field Lab, John writes, “I’m building a
greenhouse out of shipping containers and cinder block, to create a garden that
will be my little oasis of food and wean me from canned goods. I’m going to try
hydroponics and aquaponics, which is when you grow fish and vegetables at the
same time.” Do we have to be in starvation mode to plant a Victory Garden?
Wouldn’t it be amazing if people all across this country took to planting their
own crops in their yards, verandas, or patios? I imagine we would all be happier
than we are now. Talk about a farmer’s market!
People would be friendlier too and guess what? You could actually enjoy talking to people
again. The good old days had a certain charm, I will grant you that, but we
need electricity and the way to insure we keep it, is for solar panel
technology to become affordable.
