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Opinion editorials Handling of Pit Appeal Calls for a Time-Out |
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opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
A Light-Bulb Moment
Instead of shoving another square peg into a shovel-ready round hole to lock up stimulus billions, how about popping in some solar-powered LEDs that could save energy equal to the use by 16 million homes?
Or does that make too much sense?
Albuquerque's Visible Light Solar Technologies has created a retrofit hybrid solar device for interior and exterior fixtures. CEO/president Dee Dennis says “for 150 years, it was all about pushing as many lumens onto the ground as possible without a thought to how much heat was generated or power was used. That is over.”
For it to be truly over, someone needs to give a thought to the company's just-launched Vector line of products, which draw power first from a solar-charged battery, then from the electric grid. Simply replacing outdated, energy-sucking parking lot lights is expected to drop one company's annual power bill from $21,881 for 218,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to $2,666 for 26,664 kilowatt hours. The savings will pay for the initial investment in just three years.
Now consider there are more than 100 million street lights and parking lot and commercial and industrial fixtures in the nation that could go solar/LED.
VLS is thinking big, hoping to grow from 17 employees to 40 by the end of the year, to move from its current 8,000-square-foot office-park site to a 40,000-square-foot plant. Local, state and federal stimulus gurus should be thinking just as big, if not bigger.
Because putting people to work, boosting the economy and addressing fossil-fuel dependence in one shot is something we should all get charged-up about. And unlike a lot of other climate change solutions, the average home or business owner won't get a big, fat bill.
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