If anyone cares to track me down, I'll be camping with the Burning Man "outreach" groups-- Black Rock Solar, Burners Without Borders, Black Rock Arts Foundation, etc. We'll be at at 6:15 and Esplanade. I'll be in a green canvas trailer camper with aluminet shadecloth over top. I'll probably have blue xmas lights and a "fuck off raver" sign.

On you way in, check out what Black Rock Solar has been doing in the real world. Two of the six arrays we've built in the past year are easily seen on... read more

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I can sit anywhere in the world with an internet connection and check out the power production of the Lovelock hospital array that Black Rock Solar built:

www.tinyurl.com/ypo8fe

It just got up and running a few days ago. On a sunny day, the power curve is a perfect parabola. On overcast days, not so. As we get into summer and the sun gets higher in the sky, the array should start producing its full 30kW power, or more! It'll take a big chunk o... read more

Ah yes, the travails of the misshapen cog.

I have been courting an employee-owned solar installation company for over a month. I went through three interviews and was beginning to feel like I was being strung along. I haven't worked in a month and a half, waiting to see if these folks would hire me. I was starting to get... ANGRY.

Well, I finally heard back from them today, and they decided that they didn't want me as a co-owner, but would hire me on as an hourly. This was ten minutes a... read more

I've been thinking, as always, about my love-hate relationship with Burning Man. Just when I thought I was done with it (or it with me), I find myself near the center of it again-- witness DPW, Black Rock Solar, a central player showing up on my doorstep... Strangely enough, the center has little to do with the event itself. For me, it's a husk ready to be discarded.

I happened upon this quote today:

"If you enter a state of non-ordinary reality, it is only to draw from it what you need... read more

After three months of frustrating, back-breaking work, one of our arrays is finally producing power! Just minutes into the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 90kW array donated to the Gerlach Public Schools, we were able to bring 1/3 of the system on-line. The rest of this system, and one donated to the Pershing County Hospital in Lovelock, will most likely be up in a week or two.

Photos and more at:

www.blackrocksolar.org/

Burners everywhere can be proud of this effort. Our crew... read more