solarpunk...?
like, I gotta admit. I've got only the sketchiest notions about what this "solarpunk" business is supposed to be all about
like, I kinda get the general idea that it's about building an alternate sort of social and industrial base that makes maximum use of renewable sources of energy etc.
but "solarpunk" itself seems more like...I dunno, a brand, or a style, so I've kinda ignored it
solarpunk...?
the big problem I have with "let's do solar everything" as an approach is that commercial solar cells are the products of a very dirty business, namely, corporate semiconductor manufacture
like, maybe that can be streamlined somehow, but right now, we have solar cells at all because of fantastically long and complex supply chains leading eventually back to China, because China has (a) the cheapest raw materials and (b) the most heavily exploited labor
solarpunk...?
here's the wikipedia page for the largest American solar panel manufacturer, "First Solar" (at least, largest American manufacturer according to one hasty Google search.) they use cadmium telluride instead of silicon, probably because silicon manufacture and distribution is heavily dependent on trade policy bullshit
mm-mm, cadmium telluride. it's what's for breakfast!
anyone wanna try to work with _that_ shit in their "solarpunk" utopia?