What Be the Rewards?

A little over two years ago, I purchased a solar panel. It is the most low tech device that I know of. Imagine a large box low and flat, like the shirt boxes that will be found under the Christmas Tree in a few days. Of course, mine is larger, (seven feet by twenty) and air tight, except for a small inlet and a small outlet. The side of the box that faces South is covered with fiberglass, relatively clear. The rest of the box is covered with insulation. People who sell more high tech devices often call this type of collector "Scorched Air" because it removes air from the house, warms it up, and brings it back into the living space. Inside the box is a bi-metal thermostat that automatically turns on the fan that blows air into the device when the temperature inside the box reaches a predetermined temperature. To keep cold air from cycling back into the house when the fan stops, two automatic dampers close when the fan is off.

Yesterday, I spent a few minutes brushing the snow off the panel and was rewarded by the soothing hum of the fan. Even though our high temp was only twelve degrees, the panel was able to bring one-hundred degree air into the house. Warmed by the sun, powered by a twenty-two watt squirrel cage fan. The entire system paid itself off in under two years. In year one, the panel provided about twenty percent of the home's heat budget. Now, due to creatively changing just a couple things, the panel is making up about forty percent of our heating needs. Rather than using unheated basement air and pressurizing the living space as I did at first, we now use air from the living space to feed the panel, increasing the efficiency and increasing the hours that the fan runs each day.

I am saving money that would otherwise be spent on energy, but this is not what makes me happiest. Knowing that with no major upkeep, this panel should last another thirty years or more makes me feel pretty good. Keeping the place comfortable without burdening the furnace feels pretty good as well. My favorite part is knowing that the sun really will come out tomorrow. During the coldest spells we get during the winter, it is usually crystal clear and the panel works all day long. In the spring and early fall, we use the extra dry and warm air to dry clothes, veggies and herbs. When it gets too hot in the house, we just unplug the entire system.

The most curious thing is that this whole system was created back in the early seventies and has been providing heat ever since. I bought the system used when trees grew up in front of the panel for a second time. The former owner installed it outside his home that was in a suburban area. When trees grew too large to let the sunshine in, he moved to a different home further out in the suburbs. Trees there grew up there too and shaded the panel again, so I bought the thirty-five year old system for about what it cost to build back in the seventies. Where I placed it, in an older neighborhood, the trees are all mature, and there is still plenty of sun, so I won't have the problems that he did.

Why do we continue to deny the fact that solar is a good way to go? Why is the focus on producing electricity, which is more difficult and expensive? I am stumped by the inability of people to see the benefit that would come from requiring similar systems on all new construction in areas that need heat in the winter.

While our elected officials talk about making progress toward energy efficiency, hoping for a seventeen percent reduction in energy use over the next two decades, or by increasing efficiency over the next generation, I have done more than twice as much with virtually no funding, in less than two months. Those who make their money on things staying the same will never get behind the changes that will require them to live on less, or to re-educate themselves. Corporados want to talk about costs, the displacement, the turmoil that they hype as the "result" of doing the right thing. My belief is that doing things wrong because they benefit business as usual is both short-sighted and irresponsible. The workers that will be displaced when we change our goal to sustainability will have to get jobs that support and enhance our planet, and her people, rather than raping it, and them. No talking heads have cogent arguments for environmental degradation. The "powers that be" are, and have always been afraid of change. We must drag them kicking and screaming into the future that we can plainly see is possible. Corporate Welfare recipients will not let go of their billions without a fight.

I hope and pray that you too will one day know the beautiful sound of "free" heat coming from the sun. This is just one tiny piece of the puzzle of how to live in harmony with the planet. There are millions of answers to the question, what can one person do to make positive change in the world. "Take your time, think a lot, why think of everything you've got, for you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not."- Cat Stevens. When we finally figure out how to mimic nature, creating no waste, living in community, with respect for all beings, we will be well on our way to solving many of the problems that plague humanity. We Believed in change. We voted for Barack. We even made him the President. Now we have to fight for him. Show the Corporate Outlaws that we mean business. Remember, The Constitution says: "One person one vote", not one dollar one vote.