About 1 million rural homes in Bangladesh now run on solar PV panels. OK it's a small panel or two, it charges a few batteries for: cell phone, a half dozen LED or CF lights, maybe a computer and a tiny fridge. The number is growing every day. Bangladesh is poor, small, with a gazillion people. It is not possible to lay thousands of miles of power cables and to manage a network of power stations. Mini wind mills are popping up in Africa like this, some made of the junk they find. What seems like a primitive system, may turn out to be a lesson for us.
The grid in the US is managed by a combination of men and computers, moving electricity here and there to serve our needs, but these computers and the communications to switching stations and power plants can be attacked from tim-buc-2 at any minute. If it happens and as back up systems come to the end of their reserve you have: no city water, no municipal sewer pumps, traffic lights, ATM, internet, banking system, cold storage, gas pump at the Texico, etc.
Localized small scale wind and solar sources could be the safety net rendering an attack less destructive. Home owned, neighborhood owned, local businesses self equipped, the municipal water plant, if a few of these had the ability to continue off line in storm or attack, the nation would be much safer. Look at WallMart and Ikea and some other companies installing roofs full of solar panels are equipping themselves to save energy and be green, but also stay open if the grid crashes.
In some ways we're number One. In others we're more like the other end of the list.
ReplyDeleteKevin I think we are on both ends of a few sticks thats for sure.
DeleteI can remember cohabing off base in Thailand. We had a set of four deisel generators that were hooked inline to power
ReplyDeleteBanchang. As the electricity use went up at night - fans, lights, and tv - we started seeing waves of "brown outs".
I image that solar panels could have worked in some areas but we lived under a triple canopy of palm trees.
Ps: Can you imagine watching Kojack in Thai and having your pooyeng translate what Telly was saying? Its is fun. Then finally tv goes off and there isn't much else to do except
the deed.
Damn, I miss that place...
Ron
living in sin....shame.
DeleteAlso,
ReplyDeleteI wonder how those panels in Bangladesh work out this time of year with the monsoon season?
Ron
Solar panels work in the light, a matter of intensity, certainly on a dark rainy day they won't produce as much. But what else do they have, no alternative other than burning candle or kerosene, kerosene fumes wreck their health.
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