Hump Day - The Box

photo credit timmyGUNZ (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) 

As everyone SHOULD know... Wednesday is HUMP DAY!  What does this mean?  Hump everything in sight?  (wear protection please.  I even have knee pads for this event.)

Since hump day is that dreaded mid week burnout day, I figured a little sit down philosophy would be in order, so for hump days to come, you can ignore my posts totally knowing I'm going to post something from the inane depths of what's left of my mind.

To start off, there's a particular phrase that really has struck a nerve with me, and I feel creates twice the suffering especially by the time it's been heard a few times daily leading up to the midweek blues.  That phrase is "Think Ouside The Box".  This to me is one of the most harmfully overused phrases I've heard in my life.

New Solar Technology

This is one that needs no metaphor.  Solar power as it stands right now SUCKS.  It's costs without government subsidies simply don't compare to the cost of the normal fossil fuel generated electricity over the long run.  Until now.  A US company has blown the roof off of china's stranglehold on the cheapest solar panels with a sweet new technology.  Check out the article:   http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/122231-solar-panels-made-with-ion-cannon-are-cheap-enough-to-challenge-fossil-fuels (thanks to Jack Spirko for mentioning this in his podcast today as well as some intelligent commentary that is worth listening to, go check it out)

My questions:  how long until this new process is usable in mass production? How long till we actually see these at the prices promised?  And will the price actually be as low as they promise, vs lower due to possible subsidies by our government, or even higher due to market influences and middlemen.  Either way, great stuff to keep an eye on in the years to come, not just for home power, but for useful power on the go.  That's better than +5 in my book.  +6 Vorpal Sword vs Power Companies... taking the head clean off our electricity bills.
In the mean time...  I'll stick to my Brunton 6 Watt Foldable Solar Array and Scosche SolBAT II Backup Battery for simple on the go power.