It may not be evident why people interested in wildlife should be excited about solar power. Beyond saying that all citizens should be interested in new sources of energy and energy conservation, there may be more than passing interest in solar power. New findings suggest that conventional solar panels when "used up" may have toxic substances within them and thus great care will be needed in disposing of them. The industry is now alert to this.
A new light thin film has been created by Nanosolar with improved solar collecting properties. To the extent that any energy source that will potentially reduce uses of biomass (wood,algae, and grass pellets) for fuel will be helpful. To the extent that such collectors may contribute to an electric supply, there can be gains. The warming of spaces and water can improve animal and human health.
I'm especially interested in the role of solar ovens that may reduce vegetative exploitation in vegetation-sparse environments like Senegal. There vast amounts of
charcoal are produced from semi desert plants. The plants and their ecological communities, as always, remain essential for wind protection, erosion control, and soil re-building after years of exploitation.
A single solar oven can serve the cooking needs of several African and Indian families that I have observed, reducing the back-breaking work of fuel gathering for women, and allowing ecological communities - plants, soil, and wild animals - to recover from perpetual harvests of every stem by
women. Boiling water by solar oven alone, as well as adequate heating of foods, can have profound effects on human health.
Here is a covered mound of charcoal in Senegal, West Africa.Scale is relative to the height of the adult, right center.