Infrastructure investment has historically served as open platforms for economic and geo-political stability. Currently China has an overcapacity for the production of solar panels, steel and many other products. Utilizing these resources to build railroads from Laos to Budapest is the largest transportation and energy development project in history.

The One Belt and One Road Initiative (OBOR) may not have an acronym that spells success, but the pay off, if it is successful, will ensure that China can ship products and influence with ease. It envisions a Silk Road Economic Belt, encompassing railroads stretching from China to Europe to host trade and infrastructure, and a 21^st Century Maritime Silk Road, establishing sea-based network of shipping lanes and port developments throughout Asia, Pacific and Africa.

GM, Ford and other companies are building technical development centers in China to piggyback on this huge marketing opportunity. China is committed transforming their transportation infrastructure to 25% electric cars by 2025. This will drive technological development and create new markets in alignment with the Paris Agreement.

The complexity of getting over sixty countries to agree to Chinese investment and Chinese owned infrastructure circumnavigating their borders is by itself a political and economic victory. The risks are high, but the long-term rewards can enable China to look back at Mr. Xi as a bold visionary who is building roads and bridges while Trump is obsessed in building a wall and renouncing Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest trade agreement in the world.

One of the architects of OBOR is Wang Huning, former college professor and now leading communist party official. He is well traveled and has had conversations with many American academics and government officials. Wang has never run a state ministry or governed a province, yet he is a key figure behind Xi’s centralized power through enforcing his theory of neo-authoritarianism. He became a top member of government in October 2017, joining the seven-man Politburo Standing Committee. The New York Times called him, “an ideologue focused on rivalry with the United States.” Exploring his past and following his footsteps will draw a path to the future of China.

Together, the 64 nations involved with OBOR account for 62% of the world’s population and 30% of its economic output. [1] To date, all these nations have consumed less energy and inserted less carbon into the atmosphere than the United States. As OBOR is rolled out the technology utilized will be modern and more efficient than legacy infrastructure in the western world.

The United States has no game plan to expand our reach, our markets or even recognize the Paris Agreement. Instead, within two months the Trump administration will implement an import tariff on all solar panels that will cripple the economics of the solar industry. This will put people out of work and increase our dependence on fossil fuels – an inverse policy of the Chinese, unsustainable and more expensive in the long run.

In Montana, the Northern Cheyenne Indians successfully fought the coal industry and embraced solar energy. Solar power, to the Cheyenne, embodied the worldview they were raised with, “You don’t take and take and take. And you don’t consume and consume and consume. You take what you need and then you put back into the land.”

Red Cloud, is a Cheyenne solar entrepreneur. He tells his students that deriving energy in a way that heals and protects the natural world is not just about employment. It’s a continuation of, “what the ancestors shed blood for, we always fought for-the earth.” He is training them not just to be technicians, but to be “Solar Warriors.” Reinvestment in renewable energy was seen a long-term solution to save money and protect the earth.

Our carbon footprint is an undisputable historical fact. If we put a price on our past consumption and the cost of climate change, the debt would bankrupt the United States. To pay off our injustice to the planet we would have to reabsorb our CO2 and find a way to keep the planet from warming, killing coral reefs and melting polar ice caps.

At Solar Forward we have common goals with the Cheyenne. We are also “Solar Warriors.” Our staff is constantly working to enable our clients to have access to affordable renewable energy by lobbying legislators and negotiating with stakeholders to keep our solar installation business alive. We only know how to slow the advance of global warming; we don’t know how to reverse it. And we don’t have clear support from our government.

At times I am jealous of the Chinese. Clearly their vision is bold and they have much work to do, but they have goals that are cleaner and more defined from top down. Trump is threatening to build a wall that might have solar panels on it. Offers a Trojan horse on Twitter, while China is building a modern beltway into the future, send a clear message that ignorance is bliss.

We only have one Earth. Our responsibility for the next four billion years is to insure Earth is healthy as long as the sun keeps sending photons through space for us to catch.

You can call us photon farmers, solar warriors or renewable energy capitalists; Solar Forward is trying to save the planet, one solar system at a time.

Mark Smith, CEO, Solar Forward

[1] https://qz.com/983460/obor-an-extremely-simple-guide-to-understanding-chinas-one-belt-one-road-forum-for-its-new-silk-road/

It was wonderful to work with Pastor Caleb, Jan Peters, and the rest of the congregation at St. Andrew’s to truly help them put into practice the environmental stewardship they preach. Their 9.2 kW system will generate clean, renewable energy and reduce their dependence on the energy coming in from the grid, which is mostly generated using fossil fuels.

Solar Forward was happy to be a part of St. Andrew’s Solar Sunday event to educate attendees about the ins and outs of generating clean energy. If you’re a member of a church interested in going solar, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 310-433-3770. Utility rebates are still available for tax exempt customers. Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through the process from start to finish.

Check out the photos below to see highlights from the day:

The security of our national electrical grid has always been a concern. Last year, snipers attacked a power substation in Northern California. Data and control lines were cut and over one hundred well placed bullets knocked more than fifteen transformers off line.

Aside from beefing up security at power plants and substations, an effective way to ensure our homes and businesses can keep running is by decentralizing the grid, i.e. installing solar panels so every home and business owner can have their own power plant right on their roof. Better yet, installing a battery backup system ensures you’ll still have power even if the grid does go down.

One of the businesses that received a Beautify Lincoln makeover was TRiP, recently named Best Neighborhood Music Venue of 2013 by the LA Weekly. In addition to the huge splash of color that Evan’s mural added to TRiP’s entryway, TRiP’s owner had a vision to immerse a tree adjacent to his business with light.

To help him out, we installed twelve 35-watt solar panels recycled from a previous project that charge a gel battery throughout the day, and light up LED flood lights aimed at the tree at night. Here’s how it works: the solar panels, lights, and battery are hooked up to a charge controller. During the day, the panels charge up the battery, and when the sun goes down, a timer sequence is initiated. As soon as the timer winds down, the tree is lit up by the battery powered LED lights, and these lights stay on for about 6 hours throughout the night.

TRiP tree lit up by solar powered lighting

Between art murals, solar powered lights, live music, and a great beer selection, there’s no reason not to include TRiP on your next weekend outing.

A huge group of jellyfish clogged the cooling pipes at a nuclear power plant, forcing one of its units to shut down. After a couple days, the jellyfish had finally been cleared and the reactor ready to be restarted.

So next time you’re up on your roof giving your solar panels a gentle cleanse, feel secure in knowing that the only thing you have to worry about is some bird poop. And while the jellyfish situation is comical, having to shut down a nuclear reactor can be dangerous. So you’ll be breathing a little easier knowing that going solar means relying less on conventional energy.

Why is everyone looking at me? I was just exploring a cool looking pipe.

A state bill is working its way through the Legislature that would charge customers (not just solar customers) with a $10/month fee to make up for revenue losses utility companies have experienced due to the rising popularity of solar panels.

We at Solar Forward think this another blunder by the utility industry.  Solar saves everyone money and reduces the need for power plants and transmission lines.   Solar energy is generated where it is consumed, saving 10% on normal loss in wires and transformers.

This fee would apply to customers within Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric territories.

Consumer groups produced the video below, prompting Southern California Edison to issue a cease and desist letter.

Now customers are making their voices heard by rallying outside Edison’s offices in Rosemead and expressing their outrage at utility companies creating even more roadblocks for clean, renewable energy.

At Solar Forward, we will do everything in our power to make sure the bill does not become law so California residents can continue to choose solar energy for their homes and businesses.

Nuclear power is toxic forever, a national security risk, and inefficient.  As with any centralized power source, more than 10% of the power produced is lost in the transmission lines before it gets to our homes.

Residential solar power plant

Solar on your roof is safe, clean, nontoxic, and decentralized.  The power you produce on your home is consumed on site or next door.  There is no transmission loss.  There is no risk to the Earth and no risk of terrorism or nuclear meltdown.  Solar power maintenance is simple, without risk of radiation, cancer or contaminating thousands of square miles.

Beware the atom, embrace the sun!

Monitoring a solar panel in the production line.

Energy independence is now within almost everyone’s grasp. Every day we delay the installation of solar energy, we make the Earth warmer, putting our well-being in jeopardy while raising the price of everything we value.

Political trade feuds are as juvenile as tossing tea into the bay and only make matters worse. The solar industry needs stable policy on a local, national, and global scale, before a refreshing glass of iced tea becomes an unaffordable part of history.