While I sometimes use all sorts of lighting gadgets in some of my shots, this shot of my friend Anil uses the most unique lightsource available to photographers: a giant spherical fusion reactor in the sky. In other words, the sun.
The sun does more than just generate light for portraits however… it can generate power for our cities. Find out what Anil’s doing with these solar panels and why it’s important…
Anil runs a local sustainable energy business called Sumintra. With a little bit of know-how and some technology that is becoming more and more affordable,
… Anil can bring the power of the sun right down through these conduits to power your home, and even give some back to the grid.
As he gets ready to climb up on the roof of a Germantown home to work on an installation, you can see the shutoff switch on the wall to the left. Since the panels that Anil installs kick out so much power, they can not only power the home, but also send excess energy into the utility grid. The switch is there so that the power company can cut off the flow of power emanating from the house before they do any work on lines in the area.
That very blast of sunlight that’s overexposing the left side of this image is the same one that could power your home. For free.
These brackets help lay the frame where the panels will attach to the house…
… if you take a look, you can just barely make out the little black edge around them, which is a layer of magic sealant goo that protects the roof’s integrity, allowing the panels to firmly attach to the roof while keeping out water.
Sumintra is named after Anil’s grandmother…
… much like grandmothers support us, these beams will support the panels on the roof…
… ok, that is actually a completely ridiculous comparison… I’m just trying to give you a little narrative here!
This “anti-seize” compound coats the stainless steel screws. It is *not* for your epileptic friends who are prone to seizures… but rather keeps the steel from locking up in case you ever want to change out a component in the future.
Here’s a closeup of that goey sealant layer that protects the roof…
… and here the brackets are coming into place.
The panels used are modular, so you can build an array that suits your space…
… and these little magic blue cells will take all of that energy…
… that is blinding us from above…
… and funnel it down this conduit into your house.
Why is this kind of technology important?
Last week I blogged about Shale Gas Outrage 2012. There’s a shortsighted rush for cheap energy right now, that doesn’t seem to put a lot of value on the future generations that will be impacted by our current actions.
So while we both need to be out there in the streets with the activists speaking out against the things that we find problematic…
… we also need to be out there (and up there on the rooftops) developing these alternatives.
I’ve been inspired by hearing Anil speak passionately about the work that he does at Sumintra, helping people cultivate sustainable energy. So if you know any homeowners who’d be interested in either solar electric or solar hot water systems for their house, send them his way!
