Wednesday Sept 21st. ~ 2011 ~

I got back from the fall Tucson Gem Show a few days ago where I was exhibiting at the Whole Bead Show. As I drove through Hatch on my way to I-10 west towards Tucson, I was totally shocked to see an amazing 5 megawatt CPV project.

The last time I drove on that stretch of road from Hatch to Demming in February there was no hint that this was to be built. I had a bit of a sense of how big each of these panels was. It seemed that each panel was about the size of a small house and there seemed to be close to a hundred of them.

Here in the Southwest these types of installations just seem to make so much sense and are so efficient. A megawatt is one million watts… that is a lot of power and here is how to put it into perspective

A typical house has a 200 amp main,
That breaks down to 10-20 amp circuits
A 20 amp circuit is equal to 2400 watts.
This installation can power 25,000 homes with ease.

This is totally cool!  Biggest CPV Project in US Up and Running in NM

Elizabeth Warren spoke these words and it is the clearest summation of what I have been trying to find words for. It is clear, concise and comes directly to the point. I thank you Elizabeth and I wish you great success in your Massachusetts Senate 2012 Campaign. I hope that your ideals catch on and I wish that I could vote for you!

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody! You built a factory out there - good for you.
But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory….
Now look. You built a factory and turned into something terrific or a great idea - God Bless! Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."