Solar Energy

I thought about solar panels a couple of years ago. I was very tempted to put them on the south facing roof of the barn. I looked up the offers from my local electricity company (EDF), did some calculations and decided against it. My reasoning was simple, it would take fifteen years to recover the investment – that would make me 78 years old Mmmm – not sure I have that long!

I’m still interested in solar power though and I hope the technology will develop faster than I age, so that I can benefit from it. Friends tell me the problem is a political issue rather than a technological one. That’s to say there is little governmental interest (here or elsewhere) in developing technologies that make people more independent and free. A nuclear power station keeps energy resources in the hands of government. What’s more, it has to be protected and defended, thus governments have an excuse for Security Services, Special Forces, and elite police – and if the going gets tough well, government can always assert its authority by denying power to a rebellious population.

So while I sit and wait for technology to liberate me, I have come up with a solar panel of my own. It works, and the cost was nothing at all. I expect to profit from it by June!

My solar panel converts the Sun’s energy to fructose and it delivers it in the form of Strawberries. Essentially it is an old pallet, planked over on the back, filled with earth and positioned to face the sun. The strawberries grow between the slats like rock plants and seem to love it! Best of all it takes up almost no garden space – it’s a vertical crop and, to date I haven’t felt the need for electric fences, concrete walls or armed guards to protect it.

David