Solar Concept Misses the Point
A reader submits the pic here and adds: “Roof mounted solar panels and solar water thermal mirror panels for a commercial building.” (Larger version below.)
This concept misses the central point of solar, i.e., aiming panels directly at the sun, so as to grab every available photon, and in turn, kick out as many electrons from the semiconductors as possible. In the northern hemisphere, this means facing them to the south, and, if feasible, helping the process along with motorized devices that track the apparent motion of the sun across the sky.
Moreover, the one thing you don’t want is a device that casts shadows on itself.
What’s happening in the U.S. Senate is viewed by people around the world as the end of rule of law we had treasured since the dawn of the republic.
Australia is facing one of the worst fire seasons that it’s ever seen. While heavy rains have started to fall, bringing some respite to exhausted firefighters and frightened citizens, these blazes have torn through more than 10 million hectares, taking the lives of 29 people and more than a billion animals as of the time of this writing. 
I’ve known Jigar Shah for about ten years now; in 2015 he was good enough to write a testimonial that I used on the back cover of my book “
From 
In yesterday’s post 
Americans enjoy the rights to peaceful assembly and free speech that are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the right to bear arms that is protected by the Second. But are these limitless?
It’s not often I quote U.S. military commanders, but this statement from now-deposed Defense Secretary James Mattis is excellent.
Everywhere we go we hear this joyous refrain: The U.S. economy is doing great! And it’s true if you’re wealthy, heavily invested in the stock market, which was up ~30% last year. Just be glad you’re not a 
Later today, the Trump administration will announce that it has loosened restrictions on the use of landmines, rolling back an Obama-era policy that restricted the use of landmines to the Korean Peninsula. The new policy is expected to allow the U.S. to use landmines anywhere in the world.
