Graves are a Solar Energy Source

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

24 Nov 2008 10:54 AM

Here is a news story about being green even after you have passed on from this world. The generations before that contributed to global warming can now contribute to saving the planet through solar energy.

One working class town in Spain has taken to putting solar panels on the mausoleums at one cemetery. The 462 solar panels produce enough energy to run 60 homes for a year. In this way, the past is helping the present and the future. An estimated 62 tons of carbon dioxide will be kept out of the atmosphere, thanks to these solar panels.

Why did the Spanish town decide to place the solar panels in the cemetery? Simply because it was the absolute best spot. There is a lack of flat open land that gets enough sun to produce the solar energy.

The planners made sure that the solar panels were placed at a low angle in order to make them as unobtrusive as possible. They started working this past Wednesday.

The project took three years to complete and originally faced a lot of opposition from people that thought installing the solar panels was disrespectful.

This is an interesting idea to discuss. On one hand, I have to applaud the efforts of this town to go green, take care of the environment and be proactive about protecting the future by using their present resources. On the other hand, how would I feel visiting a relative whose remains are housed underneath a solar panel. perhaps I wouldn't mind, since the panels are attached to the roofs of mausoleums, an above ground grave, and not sitting on a tombstone.

The story also inspires me to look around my town for ways that we could be more green. We have a whole roofs of buildings with live people in them, meadows and fields, barns and structures, and yet there are no solar panels to be seen that I know.

What do you think?

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog and caring for little ones in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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Samual (11722) 24 Nov 2008 11:20 AM

It takes more carbondioxide to make a solar panel, than a panel can counteract in its lifetime, much like windturbines. If the UK was sunny all the time and every roof was covered in solar panels, we pay power one city if we are lucky, they are extremely inefficient.

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 24 Nov 2008 11:41 AM

Really? Wow I never heard of that.