Hello all,
Hurricane Sandy should be a wake up call for many things, infrastructure changes, climate change, how completely destroying salt marshes and other coastal ecosystems that could have helped prevent the storm surge from reaching as far as it did may have been a bad idea etc etc. However I think one thing that individual homeowners can learn from this is to add something else to their Storm Survival Kit. Solar Generators.
Follow me over the jump.
I am not sure how many people have heard of them but they're actually available everywhere from Home Depot , to Cabelas , to independent companies like this one.
They come in various wattages and they even have batteries now that store the energy.
A company called Goal Zero has systems that are scalable, anything from just charging your PDA to running computer, TV and fridge.
Now I realize the bigger units to run a large fridge etc are much pricier than their gas alternatives however there are benefits, no fumes, no need for gas, no noise, no fire hazard and a lot healthier for the planet.
I also think that major cities should start looking at installing solar panels on hospitals, fire stations and critical areas so that people do not HAVE to rely on generators could run out of gas. The gas situations in NY and NJ should make people sit up and take notice of how much less stressful disasters would be if there were solar panels available for backup.
Let's take this one step further shall we: street lights, stop lights etc should all have solar panels installed on top of them so they would work after disasters.
I have always felt and STILL feel that every square inch of flat roof in this country should be covered with solar panels, we could save SOOOO much money, cut our emissions SOOO much and have much less of a stressful time dealing with natural disasters. All of our buildings should help add to the power grid, not just be a drain on it. However no one has the political will to make this happen.
After all, the sun always comes out after the rain. Maybe it's about time we take advantage of that fact.
Chaos