nature
wondrous, grand
giving, stunning, hurting
scarred from lifetimes of deep neglect
mother

cities
powerful, clout
bustling, swarming, living
responsible to change the world
impact

streetlights
bright, everywhere
shining, revealing, welcoming
needed but right now quite wasteful
misused

solar
gift, prevalent
powering, driving, innovating
our world needs to run on solar
future

to tell my story, i decided to write several cinquain formatted poems and string them together. my final product tells the story of a hurting world in which the key to survival is found in the power of cities. cities are powerful because of their sheer size and energy, but the innovation to drive our planet forward is much less noticeable: streetlights. traditional streetlights are vulnerable to natural disasters, powered by dirty fuel, and are inefficient (some estimates say traditional streetlights lose 40% of their light to the sky, as opposed to illuminating the ground).

meanwhile solar street lights are completely off the grid and are powered from totally renewable energy. all solar street lights use led light bulbs, which can be up to 70% more efficient. they are extremely resilient, continuing to work during natural disasters while anything connected to the grid is left inoperable. they can even offer a helping hand during these disasters because, if installed correctly, the light post can become a charging station for aid workers and vital equipment.

the simple beauty of solar street lights isn’t that they save money, conserve energy, emit less emissions, or their resilience. the simple beauty of solar street lights is that they are universal. they can be installed in a developed country to replace aging infrastructure or in a developing country in which traditional infrastructure has never existed. this inclusiveness is very rare to find in an innovation, which is why solar street lights could prove to be so important.

in order to properly repair the damage done to the natural environment, cities must use their influence and size to lead the sustainability movement. an integral part of this movement can be achieved through solar street lighting, which if powered by cities, will leave the world a little bit brighter than it was yesterday.

the study demonstrates that with a conscientious effort, human-caused light pollution can remain constant, despite large population growth in cities.

shielded outdoor lights, required by tucson and surrounding pima county ordinances thanks to the efforts of both citizens and astronomers, keep the area skies dark for all to enjoy. the measures control wasted light, suppress the sky glow caused by outdoor lights, save large amounts of energy and preserve the value of the kitt peak national observatory site for advanced astronomy research.

the brightness of the night sky over southern arizona’s observatories is not an academic issue: astronomy research in arizona is built on a $1-billion infrastructure and generates more than $250 million in economic benefit each year. this revenue equates to what would be gained by bringing the super bowl and all of its associated economic activities to arizona at least every other year.

kathryn neugent and philip massey of lowell observatory measured the night sky brightness at kitt peak in 2009 and 2010 and compared their results to those massey and his collaborators made 10 and 20 years ago. they found that kitt peak is just as dark now as it was 20 years ago.

during the past 20 years the populations of pima and maricopa counties have nearly doubled.

thank you, john jaeger

www.magnumenergysolutions.com

with new automation systems the lights can be turned off automatically when no one is in the room, and also turned on automatically when someone walks in the room. they cost next to nothing to install and can go much further than just lights, they can control room temperature and much more to save even more energy. new systems work wirelessly no wires to pass! and are easy to use actually they’re automatic no buttons to press nothing to do.

here is a link to a company making automation systems… www.control4.com. my company installs these systems and everytime i drive around at night in the city and see the building almost completely lit up! i can’t imagine how much energy is wasted

this winter alone, (2010) the doe forecast individual households will spend $786

as spring arrives most of us are thankful for the reduced heating and utility costs associated with rising gas costs, and are thankful for an end to a long, harsh midwestern winter.

while the warmer season brings thoughts of mulch, sod and trimming grass, many homeowner’s associations and property management firms may not have considered the continued additional utility costs associated with natural gas powered, post lantern lights, existing in many ohio homeowner yards, garden pathways and private streets.

while these lights are elegant, charming, and quaintly light the way, many associations may be overlooking the huge savings involved in converting natural gas lights to low-voltage electric. by simply converting one post lantern light, a homeowner will save over $300 – and that’s only one home!!! imagine the savings involved in neighborhoods with hundreds or even thousands of lights?? not to mention the 2000 pounds of carbon expelled into the atmosphere.

many homeowners, as a result of rising gas costs, have turned off gaslights, which alters neighborhood aesthetics, not to mention the safety issues for neighborhoods without electric streetlights.

a low voltage gas light conversion kit is safest and easy solution to install. no lic. required. check with your local electrical building codes.