Let’s see. Canberra has mandated that by 2020 at least 20% of Australia’s generated power must come from renewable energy.
Communities such as Adelaide, Perth and Central Victoria have been dubbed Solar Cities — launching pads for photovoltaic initiatives and awareness. A solar power station planned near Mildura, Victoria, hopes to become the continent’s largest, pumping out enough juice to electrify 45,000 homes a year. Sure, that’s impressive. But we say…
Whatever.
If Australia wants to get serious about this sun-power thing, we recommend that Ms. Gillard give Eric Jacqmain a call. Like, now.
As seen in the video below and on this website, this youngster from the American Midwest has a knack for solar-powered toys. His Mona Lisa is the R5800 “death ray.” It’s a salvaged fiberglass satellite dish covered with thousands of tiny mirror tiles. When an object is placed at the focal point of all that reflected sunshine, awesomeness ensues.
Seriously, someone call up this kid on Skype and convince him the grass is greener in the Southern Hemisphere.