To the editor,
Whenever extreme weather hits, greatly elevated electricity consumption creates concerns. Maybe it’s time every structure independently harvested solar energy as an emergency power storage system. There already are fossil-fuel-powered generator systems that engage once the regular electric-grid flow gets cut off, so why not use clean solar energy instead of the very old-school and carbon-intensive means?
Albeit, if such solar power universality would come at the expense of the traditional energy production companies, one can expect obstacles, including the political and regulatory sort. If it notably conflicts with corporate big-profit interests, even very progressive motions are greatly resisted, often enough successfully.
Of course there will be those who will rebut the concept, perhaps solely on the notion that if it was possible, it would have been patented already and made a few people very wealthy.
Regardless, it may no longer be prudent to have every structure’s entire electricity supply relying on external power lines that are susceptible to being crippled by unforeseen events, including storms of unprecedented magnitude, especially considering our very vulnerable over-reliance on electricity. Also, coronal mass ejections’ powerful EMF effects leave electrical grids vulnerable to potentially extensive damage and long-lasting power outages.
Frank Sterle Jr.
White Rock, B.C.