Community Works With Solar Power

[GreenPartyVoter]

Rather frustrating article, if you ask me.

"GARDNER, Mass. (AP) - This old mill city built prosperity from the force of its waterways. So there was a legacy of renewable energy when the local electrical utility sought to thrust Gardner into the age of inexhaustible sun power, ahead of everyone.

On a summery evening in June 1985, Massachusetts Electric Co. dispatched three managers, two engineers, and an analyst to demystify photovoltaic power for about 70 mostly working-class locals gathered in a college auditorium.

Panels that convert sunlight into electricity had been powering satellites. Now they could electrify Gardner's homes, not to mention its library and even the Burger King. They would help the country save oil and coal used by utilities to make electricity.

People listened politely. But what got them excited - and helped launch the first photovoltaics test on a community scale - was a question:"

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20040605/D830V79O0.html