[SGVLUG] Off-topic - home guerrilla solar systems

[Emerson, Tom (*IC)]

> -----Original Message----- Of David Lawyer
> On Mon, Feb 19, 2007 at 11:42:12PM -0500, Robert Leyva wrote:
> > Decided to really look into getting a solar power system to 
> reduce my 
> > electrical load, even if it was just for the principal of 
> the matter.
> > 
> > Found out that there are some kits that provide about 100W AC for 
> > around $1k.
> 
> Are you sure that it actually saves energy?

I think we can put an end-run on the whole discussion with one word:
entropy.

No matter what you do, eventually "the system as a whole" will lose
"energy" -- taanstafl and all that, "no such thing as perpetual motion",
etc.

Unfortunately, the human animal has this strange notion that shiny
flashy metals, such as gold and silver, have an intrinsically valuable
property to it that has nothing to do with their physical
characteristics, and as a result tend to hoard them.  To facillitate
hoarding, they've even gone so far as to create a complex system of
currency and taxation as a formalized "barter" system.

Throw into this the fact that someone created the concept of energy as
"something that can be traded", and the picture gets murky indeed.

After all, consider "AC", or "Alternating Current" in the first place --
this is the biggest "scam" of them all (according to at least one
website -- reference below) -- think about it: what the "power" company
is selling you is "electrons", these move into and out of your home at
amazing speeds AND they change direction 60 times each second!  While
it's true that the path any given electron takes is essentially random,
chances are extremely good that a fair number of them that "just left"
your house will turn around and re-enter every time the current flow
changes, which means that the power company is selling you THE EXACT
SAME ELECTRON OVER AND OVER AGAIN ;)

[http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/humor.htm -- scroll down to or search for
"some 'facts' about electricity"]

(while you're there, you might want to check on "Horsepower ratings and
AC line magnets"...)