At 50' long, 14' wide, and a 20 ton displacement, the ‘Arc’himedes can move quietly through the water fueled by nothing but sunlight. With solar electric propulsion, refrigeration, A/C, water heating, and a rain catchment system, the Arc was constructed as a floating demonstration platform for sustainable technology. Built of steel reinforced concrete with all the comforts of home, we like to think of the Arc as more like a nautically themed, self propelled, waterfront condominium rather than a boat.
Conventional energy suppliers and many large corporate interests are resisting our society’s evolution toward renewable energy and sustainable practices because of its adverse effect on their profits. There's a lot of talk and a few token demonstration projects but very little substantive change in policy to really promote a wide range of solar applications. In fact, there is way more obstructionism, rather than promotion of solar from the electric utility industry. This is in direct contradiction to what the rest of the world is doing.
For example, I recently made a trip to Bavaria Germany to visit my dying mother who married a German national many years ago. My 70 year old step father had a 5 kW array on his garage and it was amazing how many roofs where covered with solar panels there. This in a place with less solar resource than Alaska. In discussing his system, my stepfather lamented how he had tried to put solar on their home in Vero Beach, Florida many years ago but met with nothing but bureaucratic resistance at every turn. He finally gave up. In Germany he said it was simple, and the result was a 50% decrease in his electric costs.
Investor owned utilities (IOUs), are controlling the narrative on solar energy and are spreading a lot of misinformation because this revolutionary technology is a real threat to their business model and future profits. They have manipulated many state legislatures to pass a host of anti-competitive laws that are actually preventing the kind of solar investments that are going on all over the world.
The Arc is a ship that I built for two reasons, to be a low cost vehicle to explore the eastern seaboard and beyond in my retirement years, and as a metaphor for the real potential of renewable and sustainable technology. My hope is that the Arc can serve as an inspiration for people to imagine a world where we can live abundant lives in harmony with our environment without poisoning our air and water or leaving a legacy of toxic nuclear waste for future generations to deal with. The technology is definitely available, we just need to start using a lot more of it in our daily lives.
It’s time to begin aggressively changing how we produce and use energy, start a Micro Grid Revolution, and literally shift the Power to the People!
Conventional energy suppliers and many large corporate interests are resisting our society’s evolution toward renewable energy and sustainable practices because of its adverse effect on their profits. There's a lot of talk and a few token demonstration projects but very little substantive change in policy to really promote a wide range of solar applications. In fact, there is way more obstructionism, rather than promotion of solar from the electric utility industry. This is in direct contradiction to what the rest of the world is doing.
For example, I recently made a trip to Bavaria Germany to visit my dying mother who married a German national many years ago. My 70 year old step father had a 5 kW array on his garage and it was amazing how many roofs where covered with solar panels there. This in a place with less solar resource than Alaska. In discussing his system, my stepfather lamented how he had tried to put solar on their home in Vero Beach, Florida many years ago but met with nothing but bureaucratic resistance at every turn. He finally gave up. In Germany he said it was simple, and the result was a 50% decrease in his electric costs.
Investor owned utilities (IOUs), are controlling the narrative on solar energy and are spreading a lot of misinformation because this revolutionary technology is a real threat to their business model and future profits. They have manipulated many state legislatures to pass a host of anti-competitive laws that are actually preventing the kind of solar investments that are going on all over the world.
The Arc is a ship that I built for two reasons, to be a low cost vehicle to explore the eastern seaboard and beyond in my retirement years, and as a metaphor for the real potential of renewable and sustainable technology. My hope is that the Arc can serve as an inspiration for people to imagine a world where we can live abundant lives in harmony with our environment without poisoning our air and water or leaving a legacy of toxic nuclear waste for future generations to deal with. The technology is definitely available, we just need to start using a lot more of it in our daily lives.
It’s time to begin aggressively changing how we produce and use energy, start a Micro Grid Revolution, and literally shift the Power to the People!