Time for solar dreams

The Artdog Image of Interest 

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy, what a source of power. I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out, before we tackle that." Thomas Edison said it in 1931. Me too, Tom!

This image is a photo montage I put together. It was inspired by the quote from Thomas Edison. It is surrounded by photos of current solar technology. One of my blogging themes this month is a proactive approach to climate change.

But you don't have to look very hard or stretch your imagination to realize that the time for solar dreams is right now. As the Motley Fool points out, the solar industry has come into its own. The time for solar dreams of a cleaner-energy future are now.

We have only to embrace it.

IMAGE CREDITS: This montage was inspired by the photo and quote from Thomas Edison that I found on the Edie website (unfortunately, it was pretty small). I surrounded it with photos of contemporary solar panels from (clockwise from upper left): The Motley Fool, BusinessGreen,  American Solar Energy Society, and GreenTechMedia. Many thanks to all!

Photo of Interest: Solar Receptors of the Future

This image received an Honorable Mention recognition from National Geographic as one of the best science visualizations of 2009. Here is their description:

"Honorable Mention, Illustration: "Back to the Future"

"Created at the Second University of Naples in Italy, "Back to the Future" illustrates the principles of biomimeticism—the idea that nature’s creations can guide the design of future technology.

"Computer-generated drawings of future solar panels, 10 feet (3 meters) tall and 165 feet (50 meters) across, stand behind the organisms that inspired them—the microscopic marine algae known as Licmophora flabellata.

"Shown attached to sand grains in a scanning electron microscope image, these biological solar collectors have a flat, wedgelike form and a glasslike wall—features that allow them to absorb as much sunlight as possible for photosynthesis." 

IMAGE CREDIT: Mario De Stefano, Antonia Auletta, and Carla Langella, Second University of Naples, via National Geographic.