Is it worth it?

We have solar panels on our roof that generate about 70% of our total electricity, including charging our two electric cars. 

Twice a year, we wash the dust off the solar panels. That’s all the maintenance they’ve required.

Before we installed the solar panels, we audited our electricity usage and took steps to bring it way down. We switched to all LED lights. (They’re fantastic now.) We replaced our pool pump with one that used one-fourth the power. Our air conditioning was already pretty efficient, but we installed new thermostats that can wring even more out of it.

Most of these changes were easy. A few things, like getting the Department of Water and Power to switch out our meter, were a giant pain in the ass. But it’s been worth it. 

Here’s the calculation:

This article on building a low-tech website runs on a solar-powered server. It’s a clever proof of concept, but I don’t know if I buy the premise. Fundamentally, I question whether it’s Worth It.

Do big data servers use a lot of power? Sure. Are web pages unnecessarily bloated? Yup. But the web isn’t the internet, and individual pages are using the tiniest fraction of the internet’s total power. In my equation, the Benefit is pretty small and the Hassle is huge.

One could argue that switching to a solar-powered server is analogous to our putting on solar panels and using LED lightbulbs.

To me, a solar-powered server feels like deciding that any lightbulb uses too much power, so you’re just going to sit in the dark when the sun goes down.

If you’re curious about developments in the energy world, you should follow author Robert Jackson Bennett on Twitter, who often retweets interesting articles on solar and wind power. He’s definitely Worth It.

Here’s what else I found interesting this week:

Speaking of trailers, I made one for the Arlo Finch series! Click below to play it.