JUN 17

I'm encouraged to see that many of the powered roadside signs here in the UK are becoming solar powered. The idea of making the most of solar energy in countries like Bangladesh is fantastic and is really a wake-up call for the West. Sadly, I'm sure this will only become more widespread in domestic applications here when planning regulations mandate solar panels on new buildings.

If the politicians in Washington D.C. were to pull their heads out of their rears and end the subsidies to the multi-national oil companies ($4.5 billion) and its subsidies to the ethanol producers ($6.0 billion) and spend that money on turnkey solar pv systems ($25,000 ea) it could cover some 420,000 homes each year. To cover every single family house in the US would cost $3.25 trillion and end our nation's dependence on imported oil forever. But then no one has ever accused our politicians of being particularly intelligent.

Of course the homes in Bangladesh are the size of garden shacks. The question is WHAT is solar-powered...a little hot water and one light bulb?

jim makes a god point, likely there is much less consumption in the first place so putting up A panel may not be as viable as in the USA Or UK, but, regardless of what families are using the power for, they find value in having power where perhaps windmills or generators were the only other possible options and windmills or solar the only renewable options. More developed countries, or rather grid based economies and residences, could just as easily put up A solar panel and offset power consumption needs that much more...AND have a small, off grid, source of backup in the event of blackouts that could keep families from freezing or food from spoiling until the grid system is repaired. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to get power restored after a blizzard, a flood, or a heat wave. I'm really beginning to think its our civic duty to be THAT prepared, just as it is that important to try and have ones family and ones body/health THAT prepared or rather that fit... because catastrophe strikes. It is just a matter of when and for how long...and when it strikes, the last thing we want to be doing is sitting on our hands waiting for someone else to swoop in and save the day. It's our duty to try like hell to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, and then our family and then our neighbor. I feel like the more dependent we get on big institutions the less fit we become, the more lax. now I'm not saying we need to all go hunt for our food with a shotgun and chop our own wood for our own solar powered tiny off grid house, but, we should KNOW the basics of survival via independent living and actually incorporate some of this into our homes and habits if we are able. maybe if we could have our very basics covered independently, then we really could start to overcome some of the social ills that plague our nations. I'm just sayin'

Wish India could do something like this, towns & villages hardly get power for few hours a day. Solar enegry is in abduance in India

So, what happens to the batteries when they "expire"? How much energy is used to transport all this solar "stuff"? How much energy does it take to produce 1 million panels and 1 million batteries? How many mega-tons of waste, pollution, etc? Huh, gotta look at the flipside, too.

In communities that are so far off the grid like these, the cost of running power lines out to them to connect them to the grid is often higher (monetarily and environmentally) than localized photovoltaic installations.

A trip to a third world/ poorer country for long enough to adapt to the circumstances: hot water tank small, not endless supply of electricty etc... Makes one's mind shift into a different. The human mind has the capacity to adapt quite well once it 'accepts' its situation.

To also see that paper products: tissues, towels etc can be substitued by washable items, one adapts. It begins to see how all this trash is generated. And that trash in poorer countries tend to be potatoe/corn chip bags, soda bottles and water bottles... From USA.