You might be smarter than what you assume
if you can apply 2nd grade arithmetic.
(CC0) It is obvious: the normal person is not able to apply 2nd grade arithmetic.
Copyright ©2022 July 23, 2022
Almost never does the normal person apply reasoning to his behavior. Everywhere throughout the world it is obvious that the normal person is unable to apply 2nd grade level arithmetic to his own life's choices.
A manufacturer's rating for a 100 watt solar panel is 18.6 volts at 5.38 amps, which sums to 100.068 watts. In a typical installation that relies upon regulating the voltage to charge storage batteries, the usable voltage will be limited to about 13 volts. 13 volts times 5.38 amps sums to 69.94 watts. Converting the battery DC voltage to AC will have an efficiency loss of 10% to 50% (depending on the quality of the inverter), resulting in a real-world power output of about 60 watts. An annual average full wattage output of the solar panel is roughly 5 hours per day (depending on location and weather).
Which is more environmentally and wallet friendly; using a $300.00 solar panel setup to light one 60 watt light bulb for five hours a day, plus spending around $20.00 a year maintenance (in a system that has several solar panels charging a single battery), or to turn off a 60 watt light bulb for five hours a day?
2nd grade arithmetic: $300.00 for a solar panel plus $600.00 maintenance over thirty years equals $900.00 to light a 60 watt light bulb for five hours a day. Apparently very few solar panel users are able to do the 2nd grade arithmetic.
If you are smart enough to rationalize that it is far more environmentally and financially friendly to turn off light bulbs and other unnecessary electrical devices rather than fussing with solar panels, then you are smarter than about 90% of everyone on earth.
Common household DC (direct current) devices typically use about 90% less energy than comparative AC (alternating current) devices.
If you are smart enough to rationalize that it is far more environmentally and financially friendly to simply use 90% less energy rather than wasting your life paying for unneeded solar panels to power unneeded AC devices, then you are smarter than about 95% of everyone on earth.
If it costs about 10 cents a month to heat and cool one square foot of a home, then how much does it cost to heat and cool a 2,000 square foot house? $200.00? What then does it cost to heat and cool a 1,000 square foot house? $100.00? A typical new home in the 1960s was around 800 square feet. Are you able to use 2nd grade arithmetic to sum the quantity of energy that is wasted to live in big homes?
If a person wants to save money while stopping pollution and 'global warming', then the person's behavior will reflect the person's beliefs by the person choosing to live in a smaller home that uses less energy. But normal people do not do that.
If you are smart enough to rationalize that it is far more environmentally and financially friendly to simply live in a smaller home — and why more energy is being used and wasted today than 50 years ago — then you are smarter than about 95% of everyone in 'developed' nations.
(CC0) It is obvious: the normal person is not able to apply 2nd grade arithmetic.
If you are smart enough to rationalize how much energy is consumed to produce a solar panel, as well as to rationalize how much damage is done to the environment during the mining and refining processes, then you are smarter than about 99% of everyone on earth.
(CC0) It is obvious: the normal person is not able to apply 2nd grade arithmetic.
If you are smart enough to be able to research and to sum the 2nd grade arithmetic of how much energy is consumed to produce solar panels, and to then compare the total energy consumption to the total potential energy output of solar panels, then you are smarter than about 99.99% of everyone on earth.
How many 60 watt light bulbs could be lit with the energy used to mine ore, refine ore, build factories, build transportation vehicles, provide transportation for the workers, provide convenience food for the workers, build retail stores, and of the many other steps required to produce a solar panel that is only able to light one 60 watt light bulb for five hours a day?
Normal people are unable to use 2nd grade arithmetic to reason how much electricity an electric car uses, nor are normal people able to apply 2nd grade arithmetic to any facet of their own lives.
Be smart; think.
Related:
The World's Smartest Man on Earth, Might Be You : Part 1
The World's Smartest Man on Earth, Might Be You : Part 2
The World's Smartest Man on Earth, Might Be You : Part 3
The World's Smartest Man on Earth, Might Be You : Part 4