New Mexico music fest tunes into solar power
Date: 02-Jul-01
Country: USA
Author: Zelie Pollon
The third annual Taos Solar Music Festival in the northern New Mexico mountain resort of Taos combines a weekend of rock, pop and folk with a hefty dose of proselytizing for the virtues of nonpolluting power from the sun.
Dozens of booths with information on solar technology border two stages in a city park that will host a three-day lineup including rock legends Little Feat and bluegrass innovators The String Cheese Incident.
"I'm here to support a worthy cause and to boogie my butt off," said Pilar West, a Taos realtor who was lingering near a booth for KTAO, a local solar-powered radio station.
Only one of the two stages is completely solar powered. It runs off 16 solar panels that measure 41 feet by 18 feet (13 by six metres) and produce 4 kilowatt hours, enough energy to run a small home, said Scott Laughlin from Boulder, Colorado, renewable energy company Jade Mountain, which is supplying the technology for the festival.
The New Mexico Solar Energy Association, which organizes the festival, hopes the mix of popular bands will help make the public at large more aware of solar power.
"Solar energy requires a fairly educated consumer," said Ben Luce, president of the New Mexico Solar Energy Association. "The average American has no idea of the consequences of throwing a light switch. They don't see the CO2 (carbon dioxide) coming out of the smokestack 500 miles (800 km) away from them in the coal-fired power plant."
Sun power proponents admit that the initial investment is steep for homeowners and businesses who want to install the technology, with a home set-up of photovoltaic cells, batteries and power management systems easily costing $30,000. But they argue the system can pay for itself in 10 to 15 years.
Jesse Torres, a computer scientist who recently moved to Santa Fe, said he built a completely solar home in Mexico that uses solar power to run televisions, computer systems, and all appliances, including a computerized control system that shuts appliances off at night.
Torres said he had to spend about $38,000 on the technology but now won't need to worry about paying a utility.
"When I retire I don't want to worry about bills. Especially with the prices of electricity, I don't know why more people don't have it (solar energy)," said Torres.
Laughlin from Jade Mountain said he hoped to have the whole festival powered by renewable energy in the future.
"I'd like to look at doing a hybrid with wind and solar power. But it might require four trailers instead of one," he said.
