This entry seeks to draw attention to the looming crisis plug-in automobiles will have on our outdated, inadequate electrical grid infrastructure. For any benefit to be gained from plug-in automobiles, adoption rates will have to be substantial enough to cause severe stress to our already overtaxed electrical grid. The “smart grid” is an oxymoron that is decades away from any resolution. A solution that does not locally produce its own power and streams it power thousands of miles is far from “smart”. Tying several stones together still will not float anymore than one stone will. As local cities and municipalities experience insufficient funds, the smart option to close the budget gap is local, sustainably produced power. Taking our relatively low power costs for granted is a dangerous proposition. “Clean coal’ is another oxymoron that has outlived it disingenuous inception. There is quite simply nothing remotely “clean” about coal. Coal ash avalanches, mass miner deaths due to unsafe conditions, dangerously rising lead levels in our water ways, mountain top removal mining, clear cutting forests, increasing respiratory problems all will forever be in our headlines. This solution seeks to minimize the impact by providing solar recharging stations at convenient locations across the country. The design has a standard kit of parts that can be rapidly installed and incentivized with discounted parking and located in close proximity to popular destinations. The control unit is cellular based and uses open source software to connect with customers easily integrating social networks, near field payment, online payment, data logging as well as low power consumption.

Happy Earth Day!