The best part about solar power is its long term effects, all of which are positive. Baltimore has a problem, their harbor is one of the most polluted in the world. Now however that is changing, some bright people in Baltimore have placed a trash collector in their harbor that filters out solid waist from the water. This solar powered device looks a bit like a small Sydney opera house sitting on the water. At first glance it would seem that such a small thing would be unable to make an impact on the large harbor. The statistics say otherwise though, often collecting 40,000 pounds of trash a day, the collector has, in the last four months, collected 100 tones of trash.
The best part about this project is that it is completely self powered. The city only needs to man it and it will continue to clean the harbor forever. And therein lies the greatest power of solar with no cost the panels will continue to gather electricity forever. This means that it is a high value long term reward that pays for itself eventually. And if the service that is provided, such as cleaning the river could have been done more cheaply using dirty energy sources, then there is still only the difference in the expense that needs to be made up for by the solar panels. This is a simple logical business decision that I foresee many people making in the near future.
“CNN Video on Facebook – CNN.com Video.” CNN. Cable News Network, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2014/11/25/orig-dh-baltimore-solar-powered-water-wheel-removes-trash.cnn&iref=allsearch&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fsearch%2F%3Fquery%3Dsolar%2520power%2520in%2520the%2520usa%26sortBy%3Drelevance>.