Solar Energy

Yesterday one of my business partners and I conducted a site survey for a proposed 6000 watt pole-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) array.   I am posting two photographs from the site visit.  The location is not more than ten minutes from downtown Helena, Montana.

The site is atop a shoulder of granite in the Rocky Mountains.  I found the location particularly beautiful and I like the idea of quiet energy produced by the sun.  The amount of energy produced in one and a half hours, in the form of sunlight striking the surface of the earth, is roughly enough to supply the yearly worldwide energy consumption from all sources combined.  If you think harvesting energy from the sun is whacky, consider this: most of the energy we use today was in some fashion created by the sun.  The trees you burn grew on sunlight.  The coal and oil we use began as greenery spurred by the sun.  Sunlight drives the climate that delivers water to our hydroelectric power generators and fans the winds that spin our wind turbines.

I am a practical person.  The arguments over climate change and being “green” don’t always reach me.  But the practical side of solar heating and solar photovoltaics (electricity) makes perfect sense to me.  The energy conversion is direct and the power generating system is yours once you install it.  I am presently designing my own solar PV system.

--Mitchell Hegman