One of our most inspiring solar projects just happens to have a great teaching component. It’s especially relevant today, the SUMMER SOLSTICE, as a way to remind us all that we’re all part of a dynamic constant– our relationship to the sun. That’s FREE FUEL that doesn’t have to be mined, transported, fought over, used up or monopolized. Big investor-owned utilities of course have other ideas about monopoly power but that’s for another day [1]. Nearly 100kW of the more expansive solar at The Center at Donaldson[2] features a manual single axis tilt so that the panels can follow the sun seasonally, thereby optimizing electricity generation. This racking system is designed by a local firm with a long history in farm equipment in Indiana, further demonstrating what innovative thinking can do. Adam Thada, director of ecological relations explains in this clip:

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[1] Our work has been focused on how to bring the system costs down to a minimum, stripping out profit motives that hamper nonprofit solar while paying living wages to those that design and install solar. That’s an ongoing project, but 30 years of free fuel that’s not subject to inflation, war, ecological devastation and all that comes with burning fossil fuels, is a great deal. We’re working to figure out ways to “pre-pay” that power bill. It’s already a great deal, cheaper than grid power if only the utilities’ and their political clout would stop their “solar punishment” tax schemes.

[2] Many posts on the great work being done by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ and their various programs at the Center at Donaldson located in Plymouth, Indiana. Follow the tags if you want to know more about their inspiring leadership and commitments.