Solar Exhaustion

A touch of exhaustion has made way for quite a struggle through the evening. Not sure what has brought about this onset of inefficiency but whatever it was, I hope it relinquishes its grasp on me by morning. This fatigue did not hit me until I was on my way home from work.

Upon returning home and backing into the basketball goal, I hobbled into my abode and immediately hunted for my bed. After a refreshing power nap, I decided to force myself to get in some exercise, in hopes to get some blood rushing through my body and abolishing this sluggish funk. The run sucked, and I ended up walking much more than usually. Looks like it will be an early night for me.

Anywho, while I was perched comfortably in my overwhelmingly comfortable recliner, I kept myself entertained by reader a few post on the blogs I frequent. (Can you believe the word “blog” is not included in Word’s Dictionary? Blasphemy.) During these online endeavors, I stumbled upon a highly thought provoking article on the solar revolution and the oppression of Big Energy. Basically, this article tackled some of the solar energy myths, i.e. the myth which states that in order to meet the same energy production provided by oil we would have to cover the entire land surface area of the earth with solar panels. The article then provided some basic calculations of how many square kilometers of solar panels it actually would take to match the Earth’s estimated daily energy consumption of 120 million barrels of oil. The results emphasized that our energy needs would require roughly 400,000 square kilometers of land area, approximately 0.3% of the total available land area!! And this is using today’s commercially available solar panels, that of which tomorrow’s panels will be twice as efficient, and the panels available the day after tomorrow will be twice as efficient as tomorrow’s.

For the past few years, I have wanted to start experimenting with my own solar panels to see how hard they would be to maintain and use for all my energy needs. I have even tried talking my father into getting them installed on his roof, due to the fact that his roof is such an idle location for collecting rays. (I think I am getting close to convincing him to do it.) Eventually, when I purchase my own place, I will have my desired solar panels and all the glory that accompanies them.

I look forward to the futuristic days, where I can feel less wasteful then I do now. It will be a time where all that I need to live will be provided in house rather then from another gluttonous company. Solar panels for the energy, a greenhouse for food production, a grey water system, a man-made wetland plot for disposal of waste water, and if applicable a rain collection system that feeds into a simple, yet sanitary, water treatment system. Of course, money and lots of planning/engineering will need to go into this dream, but it is nothing a human, with the proper ambition, can’t do. I will have to invite you over to check it out in about 10 years or so.