12. Ivy McDermott- Solar Conversation (outside readings)

  I’ve personally been interested in the sustainability of solar panels because my husband works door to door for a solar company. He works on Virginia’s net metering program, a program trying to help homeowners who qualify to save money on going solar and their electricity bill, a bill that they can never cancel. It’s an investment that generates electricity from the sun that they can eventually sell back. By 2025, Virginia is aiming for 15% renewable energy sources (DSIRE). I asked him what some of the common reasons he gets at the door are for why people don’t want to have a solar “conversation”: 

They look ugly

Cost too much

I don’t have enough time

I won’t qualify

It doesn’t make sense to me…

Parts sourced unethically

I don’t listen to the government

And more! 

I think there is a lot of bad stigma surrounding door to door sales which may cause some apprehension, especially among homeowners. Yet, there are many different small companies across the country that have been successful. Some issues that have been brought up in class about solar panels are the sustainability and ethicality of mining the resources for these solar panels and deforestation associated with large solar farms. Going solar however doesn’t require the purchase of a lithium battery, which is a big source of concern. The batteries are used to store energy in the event of natural disasters or weather. Solar farms are also an issue because they are often seen with deforestation, loss in biodiversity, and a general increase in temperature in the surrounding area. They may also not be the best use of the land. They could however be more useful if we help homeowners implement them onto their homes, businesses, etc. One thing that upsets me is living on military base housing and there are no trees around, not a shady spot in sight, yet the military doesn’t want to utilize these perfect candidates’ roofs to invest in solar. It’s too expensive, harmful, or ugly. Well, some things need to give way in order to make change.

Carolina Journal -. “Big Solar Farms May Be Stressing Agricultural Ecosystem,” May 25, 2017. https://www.carolinajournal.com/big-solar-farms-may-be-stressing-agriculture-ecosystem/.

DSIRE. “DSIRE,” n.d. https://programs.dsireusa.org/system/program/va#:~:text=Virginia’s%20Renewable%20Portfolio%20Standard&text=The%20voluntary%20RPS%20goal%20encourages,sources%20in%20calendar%20year%202025.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nature Walk

 I took a walk around the Noland trail last week to just be able to say I have done it before my time ends at CNU. This was always a bucket list thing to do and after the 6-mile walk, I wish I had done it a lot earlier. I felt at peace during the walk like I didn't have finals coming up or papers to write. The only thing that was going through my head was "Wow it's been an hour already". The walk calmed my nerves and prepared me for my finals week and everything to get crazy. I wish I did this freshman year so I could have made it a habit before my final semester.
Read more

Haley Conroy - 2/14/23 - John Muir - (Outside of Class Reading)

  In the beginning section of John Muir’s essay titled Wild Parks and Reservations , he goes into depressing detail about noticeable changes in landscapes, particularly plant life, in many different regions of the United States. As I read this section I found myself thinking that it seems somewhat similar to something you would see in an essay on the environmental changes induced by climate change today. One connection between the text and modern-day was between ecotourism and the quote "Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity, and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers but as fountains of life." (721). Muir has taken the ideas of simplicity in life suggested by philosophers such as Thoreau and embodied them, although I think that Muir is a well-educated man that understood the complexities that exis...
Read more

Makenna Sowards—Free Response 3, Vegetarianism

 Dr. Kip speaking in class about renouncing vegetarianism because he considered it to boost him onto a moral high ground made me consider my own stance on vegetarianism. I haven't eaten meat in a year and a half, and my reasons for starting on this journey have remained as my reasons to continue. After learning about the detrimental impact of the meat-packing industry, I very quickly realized that was not something that I wanted to perpetuate by spending money on meat products. Though, it can very easily be argued that my small, personal movement against the food conglomerates responsible for releasing grotesque amounts of methane into the atmosphere as well as carbon emissions from large numbers of fossil-fueled machines does not make a very big impact, I think it serves another purpose: awareness. When people ask why I refuse to eat meat, it gives me the opportunity to speak on the carbon footprint of the meat-packing industry and how it is one of the largest contributors to dest...
Read more