The Solangelist Learns To Install Solar & Loves It

I have to admit that for the first few hours of day one in PV101: Introduction to Photovoltaics I was dazed and confused by all the foreign concepts I was trying to grasp at once.  I wasn’t feeling very Creative or very Greenius.  I was feeling mostly dumb ass.

electricalequationsUnderstanding Ohm’s Law of resistance, the basics of current, amps and volts, not to mention the concepts of alternating current, Kirchhoff’s Circuit laws and the many fun equations that spell it all out – if you happen to read and understand those hieroglyphics – had me feeling pretty damn ignorant and out of my element.

The extent of my electrical background heretofore consisted of installing lighting fixtures and new wall switches – so long as they were replacements for existing items that got wired the same way.

Now my head was swimming with concepts of Joules, Coulombs and electrons all dancing about in the mysterious ways they create electricity.

And I was quite certain that of the 25 or so other guys in the room, every single one of them knew a hell of a lot more about the electrical basics than I did.

The Solangelist’s Vision Shines Brighter

The Greenius Plan To Spread Rooftop Solar Faster Then The Common Cold

woody-guthrieIf you’ve followed The Adventures of the Solagnelist thus far you know that I am seriously jonesing to generate all my electricity from my own rooftop solar power.  The only thing stopping me – an even more serious lack of the do-ray-mi.

As the late great Woody Guthrie put it,

California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot
If you ain’t got the do re mi.

Woody wasn’t kidding and neither am I.  And just like Woody, I’d like to sing you a song about a better way…

Neil Young – Rockin’ The EV World in “JOHNNY MAGIC” Straight from his LincVolt

repowering-the-american-dreamLegendary singer-songwriter and electric car advocate, Neil Young is out with his latest song and it could easily become the first anthem for the rapidly blowing-up EV movement in America.  The rockin’ number is a tribute to Neil’s innovative and totally Greenius re-powering of his 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible with plug-in electric power.

Here’s the story from our friends at Neil Young News:

Tonight, in the latest adventures in LincVolt, Neil Young and the LV Team went out for another test drive.
On this journey, viewers experienced an extraordinary first — Neil debuted a song while driving. Singing to a soundtrack on his Mac laptop, Neil performed the new song “Johnny Magic” while playing air guitar.
The song is dedicated to Neil’s mechanic Johnathan Goodwin.

Right after the jump, TWO great video versions of this new instant classic:

Exxon/Mobil To Fund Solar Financing Bond For Torrance Homeowners

img_1046In a deal brokered by the city’s newly commissioned Citizens Environmental Task Force, Exxon/Mobil, owners of the Exxon/Mobil Refinery in the City of Torrance agreed today to fund a bond that will make low cost financing of solar energy systems for home and apartment owners.  The loans for solar power, authorized under California’s AB 811, are added as assessments to a homeowner’s property tax bills and are passed on to the new owner if a home is sold.

Without Exxon Mobil’s funding of the financing bonds the program would not have had the money to offer loans in Torrance.  The city had no money in the budget to make the program possible and no plans to find any in the midst of the on-going economic crisis.  But Exxon/Mobil had no such money problems.  “We’ve had one record profit quarter after another,” said a spokesperson for the oil company.

We are so cash rich at the moment that we’re spending money all over the place while everyone else is forced to cut back.  We know carbon taxes are coming and we won’t always be floating in a sea of profits we made at your expense.  So it seemed only logical that we give a little back to a community we’ve released an awful lot of carbon in.  Hell, that entire property our refinery’s on will probably be a superfund site after they force us to stop producing our fossil fuels.

Torrance Enviro Commish – From Curious to CringeWorthy

The most recognizeable symbol of Torrance Environmental Quality
The most recognizable symbol of Torrance Environmental Quality

I spent another two and a half hours last night (time, like my 401k I’ll never get back) in the always delightful West Wing Commission Room attending the monthly Torrance Environmental Quality and Energy Saving Commission meeting.

My friends, let me tell you right now that we’ve got trouble.

clueless-excuseOh we got trouble,
Right here in Torrance!
With a capital “T”
That rhymes with “C”
And that stands for Clueless…

Come on, sing along with me after the jump –

Lillian Light Is No Lightweight – The Environmental Lioness of the South Bay is Fired Up, Ready To Go!

hummin-v27_3-lillian-lightThe more time I spend with Lillian Light the more I admire, respect and flat out like her.

Our relationship started about a month ago when we spent an evening together carpooling to a UCLA workshop on communication climate change that we both participated in.

I wrote about our experience at the time in Greenius On The Green Scene The South Bay Report.

I dug Lillian right away.  She speaks her mind, she knows what she’s talking about and she does more than just talk, she walks the environmental walk.  Lillian is the real deal and a rare commodity in this world – authentic and genuine without the slightest hint of pretense or self-importance.

Lillian is also the President of the Environmental Priorities Network (EPN) and I wanted to learn more about them and more about Lillian herself.  When I asked her if she’d agree to be interviewed for Creative Greenius she graciously agreed.

Hold Onto Your Butts!

hotyb_sticker-email

I live at the beach.  Well technically a half-mile from the beach, but I can see the ocean from my house and I get the beach weather here.  As somebody born in Flatbush, Brooklyn in 1957 I know how lucky I am to live where I do.  I count my blessings every day and I try to give back.

surfs-up
Photo courtesy of Palos Verdes Daily Photo Blog. Photo by Tash

So I’m a member of Surfrider and Heal the Bay, and I try to never miss our annual beach clean up days. And I don’t limit my beach trash pick up to just those days either.

Every year that I have participated in those Torrance beach clean up days, and whenever I walk the beach throughout the year, the one type of trash I pick up more than any other is cigarette butts.  It’s not just the beach either.  I picked up hundreds of cigarette butts in Old Town Torrance when I joined the Old Town Torrance Neighborhood Association in their neighborhood clean up in January of this year.

Frankly, I’d Rather Be Getting Arrested with Bill McKibben Today

I just got the email below from author/activist/environmentalist, Bill McKibben of 350.org   He’s in Washington DC with thousands, protesting the coal-fired Capitol Power plant–a dirty symbol of our dirty energy history.  Bill’s helping to create the largest ever civil-disobedience on climate change in history.  It’s happening right now.

Along with Al Gore, Dr. James Hansen and Joe Romm, Bill Mckibben is one of the climate change activists I admire most.

Bill asked us all to be there, but for those of us who couldn’t, he’s asking for our help by signing onto a statement of support.  If you haven’t already done so, can you take just a few seconds out of your day to add your name by clicking on the 350 link?  I just signed it, added some scathing comments and now we all need to stand together on this one.

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After the jump, Bill McKibben’s email –