Use Sunlight Locally (or Lose It) bostonreview.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bostonreview.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Solar panels on a rooftop in Queens, NY (Photo by Steven Pisano via Flickr).
A new “solar homesteading law” could harness rays of sun that fall on roofs and parking lots in cities and advance the aims of energy democracy.
What if we seized the sunlight falling unused on roofs, parking lots, and other urban surfaces? From it we could generate electricity, thereby advancing the vital transition away from fossil fuels. This proposal may sound radical to some. But, in fact, solar homesteading simply extends well-worn, U.S. traditions of rural, agricultural settlement.
Photons plunge from space onto warehouse roofs across the country every day. These photons, if captured, could contribute to photosynthesis and generate electricity.