Star Power

-

                                                    Roof top solar panels on Chickadee Lane

These are exciting days at Chickadee Lane! 


Last week twelve solar panels were installed on our roof. On Tuesday, the final inspection took place and with all systems go, the switch was flipped. The solar system produced power!


For me, this is a miracle on many levels. First that we live in Creation, amid a solar system, circling a star we call the sun, 150 million km from earth. 


It is a miracle how, on this far away star, atoms merge and produce light and heat that make life possible here on Earth.


It is a miracle that travelling at 300,000 km/sec, it takes eight minutes and 20 seconds for that sunlight to reach Earth and strike the solar panels on a roof on Chickadee Lane. 


It is a miracle that people can do such great things as to develop a way to harness that light energy through solar panels. Simply put, when the silicon material on the panels is exposed to photons of sunlight the silicon releases electrons which produce an electric charge causing electricity to flow. 


The electricity flows through meters, switches, cables, micro converters and computers to eventually power this computer. 


It is a miracle! An amazing achievement connecting me with Creation beyond myself!



                                                A phone screen shot of solar panel activity.


And… I can be sailing on the ferry, and from my phone watch, in live time, how much energy is being produced and consumed at home! (as you see in the screenshot above)


Another miracle.  Even on this week of rain and cloud, the solar panels continue to produce electricity. Who knew? Yet think of it. We feel the heat from the sun even on cloudy days. Still, I had no idea how much sunlight actually gets through the clouds. 


Even on days when we cannot see the sun, (and we have had our fill of cloudy days this week), the sun’s energy continues to push through the clouds, reach Earth and through the solar panels, power my computer. Amazing! 


I can’t wait to see what happens on a sunny day. 


Some people ask about the pay back. If one looks at the financial bottom line, our best estimate is ten years. 


However for me, the pay back started the moment I looked at the energy app and it stated how much electricity was being created and how much CO2 was not released into the atmosphere by using solar power. 


This decision to install solar panels, is an ethical and faith based decision, grounded in the call "to live with respect in Creation'. That being said, I realize I am in a place of privilege to have the choice. For, as someone once said, with great privilege, comes great responsibility. May this small action make a difference! 


If you live in the Maritimes, be safe as Hurricane Lee passes by. Meanwhile hearts ache for the people of Morocco and Libya. 


In Peace,

Elizabeth

elizstevenson@gmail.com

506-650-4812

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 15, 2023 at 8:25 AM

    It’s just amazing. Living off the grid. Good on you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thoughts from Chickadee LaneSeptember 15, 2023 at 11:10 AM

      Thank you. This is a very small solar project so we are not off the gird... just doing a wee bit.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2023 at 8:22 PM

    Well said cuz. I concur.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Solar Collectors to Strum Sticks

-
Image
For over 23 years, on most Thursday afternoons, you would find D ave, D avid and T ed, the DDT Team, gathered in Ted's workshop to build something. There you could find almost every tool known to humanity. Sometimes in triplicate! They would build things, complain about the state of the world, curse a few politicians and end the afternoon with a beverage often fortified with rum. The strength of the rum would vary as Ted sailed the seven seas - offering access to a diversity of flavours.   Construction projects began from a need. For example, Ted needed to haul heavy logs out of the woods, so their first project, a ‘yankee yarder’ winch was built.   Construction plans were discussed. Drawings created. The welder fired up. Metal bent and twisted. There you have it - a powerful piece of equipment ready to move any size log anywhere.    Earth needed to be moved. So the DDT team built a utility trailer. The strongest utility trailer you will find in NB. A trailer you could tip with one
Read more

Through the Valley

-
Image
These past few weeks I have been walking through the valley of death.   My oldest brother, Robert, who lived in PEI, had been unwell for the past few years and hospitalized off and on for the past few months. On March 17, I received word that he would be receiving ‘comfort care’ only. On March 18, a crazy weather day of hail, wind, rain, sun and rainbows, word came that my brother’s soul took flight. It’s strange this thing we call death. We know we are all going to take that trip. For as someone said, it is the “high cost of living.” Still. In recent years my brother and I were not particularly close. Time, distance and different interests, took us into different circles. Still when death happened, I became that 7 year old little sister and tears and memories flowed. Memoirs of playing ball with big brother. Building forts in the woods and hay loft. Walking home from the one room school house. Picking potatoes on cool September days.   Memories of driving in his first car. Walking dow
Read more

Not a Guy

-
Image
Rainbow photo from our back yard. It is with humility that I offer today’s thoughts from Chickadee Lane - a critique of the use of the word ‘guys’ to address all people - a bee in my bonnet, a thorn in my side. Some might say that I am the last one to critique how we use language. For with my Island accent I drive on ‘slippy’ roads and often drop the ‘g’ as "I am goin’ to town.” I who have confused every church music director by mixing up hymn numbers. I who can never quite understand when to use ‘I’ and when to use ‘me’. To the point that in my early ministry a women of the congregation, frustrated with my mixing up ‘I’ and ‘me,’ presented me with an English grammar book, “The Use of I”! And to you who read this blog, you already know I am not an expert in grammar and have never figured out when to use a semicolon.   Still… I am not a ‘guy’! My protest is about the use of the word ‘guys’ to address all genders. I am old enough to recall when male exclusive language was used for a
Read more