Cosmic Reflections

Thanks to our adult children who are advocates of Permaculture and all things sustainable, we became aware of solar powered lights this year.   Yes, these lights are on sale at retail stores such as Target, where they are marketed by Seasonal Specialties L.L.C.; produced under the Philips brand name; and manufactured in China from Earth’s resources and Ancient Sunlight (oil, coal, natural gas, etc.)

A Closer Look – How do the new solar-powered lights work?

A small 2.5” x 3” solar panel collects solar energy during the day, converts it to electrical energy and stores it as chemical energy in a rechargeable non-toxic Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery that then provides power after sunset for the string of 50 high efficiency Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights. The control unit uses a photocell to sense nightfall and automatically activates the lights each evening, so there is no human intervention required after the lights are setup initially.

Our first Christmas “off the grid”

As Elders, we have downsized significantly this year. Nevertheless we still possess a need to celebrate life and experience the joy of the holiday season – a desire that is so deep it must be wired into our neurological makeup or even embedded in our DNA. This year, we added the satisfaction of not using any power from the coal-fired electrical grid for celebration. This holiday season we did not use any Ancient Sunlight to send our symbolic light of joy back out into the universe in joint communion with the Cosmos as it shares its nightly light with all of us. 2010 is our first Christmas “off the grid.” This small effort to become more sustainable has been accompanied by a sense of satisfaction and calm that adds to the joy of the season. The Universe may not know that the source of our few milliwatts of celebratory light came from today’s sunlight instead of from the Earth’s non-renewable Ancient Sunlight stored 300 million years ago – but we know.

Indoor Use of Outdoor Lights – Gail’s Experiment

The new solar powered LED lights are advertized “For Outdoor Use” in the lower left hand corner of the box. Gail’s curiosity drove her to pull out the extra set of lights we purchased just to conduct a simple experiment.  She was determined to find out if the solar powered lights would work indoors as well. Is there enough indirect indoor light to recharge the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery and operate the lights?

What did we learn?

So, after several nights of experimenting, she concluded that the lights can be used indoors. At least marginally. The tiny solar panel, no bigger than the palm of her hand, became her pet as she faithfully walked it to different windows during the day – tracking the sun’s movement – so her new found charge could recharge. She learned the panel can recharge partially using only indoor light, but a partial charge is only enough energy to operate the lights for 2-3 hours after sunset. Used outdoors, the tiny solar panel collects enough solar energy to stay on for at least 4-6 hours each evening. 

After a week of taking her solar panel pet for walks indoors, Gail decided to end the experiment, set her panel free and place it outdoors where it had a chance to experience a direct view of the sun.

What else did We Learn?

Together we learned that this green tangled array of bits of evening brilliance was indeed an exquisite creative arrangement of plastic, wire and glass – that in turn are creative arrangements of Earth’s elemental resources (petroleum, copper, silicon, etc.). We observed it to be a cleverly evolved “system of star stuff” with enough memory in its electronic DNA to switch on at sunset, but nothing more. We learned that what the retailer called UPC 7 41895 02609 5, was a marvelous green colored (solar) plant with a minute brain that gave it awareness of sunlight. A miniature solar plant capable of harvesting 7.5 square inches of current sunlight, converting these photons of incident electromagnetic energy into stored chemical energy housed safely within an environmentally friendly battery, sensing nightfall and then drawing the energy out of the battery to illuminate 50 LED red-yellow-blue-green lights. We suspect that even though the panel appears to possess an awareness of the sun, it does not summon the least amount of consciousness of its own being nor its total dependence on sunlight.   Sort of like some of us.

And our string of solar powered LEDs colored lights use no water.  This is a good thing.  In this heavily populated desert valley of southern Nevada, there is no water to spare for trivial celebrations or even for communing with the stars. The city plot where this experiment was conducted receives on the order of 4000 square feet (540000 square inches)[3483864 square cm] of sunlight. Approximately 15% of the lot is covered with natural plants that faithfully do their part in harvesting current sunlight every day (with the addition of weekly water). The remaining 85% of the property either rejects / reflects the gift of the sun, or accepts / absorbs the life-giving energy and converts it into thermal energy (heat) raising the temperature of the rooftop, sidewalk, driveway, and assorted gravel scattered in the xeroscaped beds cleverly and tastefully arranged around the property.

The 7.5 square inches of solar panel collecting surface represents 0.00153 % of the 3400 square feet of unclaimed / unutilized property. In other words, we are taking advantage of 0.00153 % of the opportunity to harvest our sunlight. We are taking on 0.00153% of our responsibility to utilize the gift coming to us daily from Father Sun. So glad we are taking a small step toward sustainability.  Just 65,359 similar small steps to harvest current sunlight and we will be doing our part to live sustainably.

But we didn’t add any more carbon to the atmosphere, nor lower the level of Lake Mead by using our string of 50 LED colored lights this year.

In a later installment, we will address the Question:  Are Solar Powered Lights Appropriate in the Context of Sustainability?