June 20, 2018
Welcome to the new platform the American Solar Energy Society is unveiling…this is Tiny Watts!
This platform is an opportunity to share our uses of solar power on a smaller scale. Solar power doesn’t just have to be panels on a roof; it includes many different devices and ways to harness the sun’s energy. These devices include solar power phone chargers, solar power backpacks, hats, solar cookers and more. There are even opportunities to use the sun’s power when drying clothes or to heat up water in a portable shower. All these ways are important little changes we can make to use this awesome source of renewable energy!
With this platform, you can register your devices through our membership portal and we will calculate how many watts you used with your tiny device! There is no limit to registering your devices, you can register as many as you want. From there you can choose to estimate your monthly or annual device usage and we will calculate your total watt and watt-hour usage for all of your registered devices.
We want to create a community through our tiny watts usages as well. As a collective, we have a goal to use one million tiny watts (one megawatt!). There will be a thermometer on the Tiny Watts webpage and as people register their devices and continue to use them, the thermometer will increase and everyone can see as a community how many tiny watts we are using!
I have used my solar phone charger for a little while now and I love it! It’s super convenient when I am out and about and need to charge my phone. I enjoy taking it hiking or camping. It is so cool to see this little device work through the sun to power up my phone. Sometimes when I am out running errands I will leave it on my car seat or floor where the sun is hitting so it can get all charged up. It’s great because I use this charger more now to juice up my phone than a regular wall charger.
I believe this idea is an incredibly creative way of using renewable energy that people often forget about. I think about solar energy on a massive scale and how we have to change our behaviors on a big scale such as where our energy from the grid comes from. This is a great reminder that the shift to renewable energy can start on a smaller scale. It’s a great way to show a broader audience how to use renewable energy on a more personal basis. This change can start in smaller ways, helping people shift daily habits like charging a phone and showing how that can have a ripple effect on the bigger population.