Solar Power Light

Anyone who would have dared mention getting light in our homes from the sun via Solar Power when I was growing up would have had some very queer looks cast their way.

It would be hard to estimate today how many people around the world were born into a rural community. In Australia, many 'baby boomers' were born while their parents were living on the land. Some of these properties (ranches) were the result of land being given to returning soldiers from the first and second world wars but it did open up large tracts of land and created communities in the bush. As the children of these 'soldier settlers' grew up, parents discouraged their children from going onto the land for a living because it was a hard way to eke out a living.

Over time, some of these communities turned into towns while others lagged; sagged into disrepair and now many have not managed to survive beyond the odd general store / post office combination or pub. A Pub is short for "public house" and once was a thriving business to be in, in Australia, but not any more. Still, that's another story for another day. If I had the temerity or foresight to mention that the day was fast approaching when I would get my house lighting at night from the sun I would have politely been asked if I had been at the pub for too long!

Solar Power lighting today is an absolute gift for people still living in the Australian bush. The distance between properties is too far and it is too expensive to get connected into a main grid.

Up until this point many properties not conveniently located close enough to a main power line had to make do with 240volt diesel generators. These are expensive to run and noisy. They could also only be turned on occasionally because of the cost of running them so conveniences like electrical toasters, jugs, TV's, Vacuum cleaners etc were used sparingly.

Now that people can make their own solar panels and have solar power lighting available all the time, means people living anywhere in the bush will have lighting available to them whenever and for whatever, reason they need it. What a gift!