Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by the ☀️ and it’s powerful rays of light. My mom worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Africa division and she would tell me about work they were doing to create solar cookers to enable the people of Africa to take advantage of their natural resources to overcome the limits of their infrastructure and minimize deforestation.
The Mekhe Solar Cooker Project
In our modern society in America, we are privileged to have an abundance of resources, widespread infrastructure and a nearly endless appetite for more. Over the decades, the growth in population, concentration in cities, deferred maintenance of the country’s energy network and demand for more resources has put a strain on infrastructure. This coupled with the change in climate has created dangerous conditions. When I moved to California and Texas, I experienced first hand the rolling blackouts and the shutdown of the electrical grid.
Living in Los Angeles, with its average of 263 days of sunshine, I felt a calling to be more sustainable. I set up rain barrels to store rain water to water my vegetable garden. I reduced our lawn to desert scape to support water conservation during the droughts, limit waste and bring more native plants to my landscape. But I really wanted solar! Our house had a flat roof which was ideal to have solar panels and I fantasized about having an EV and not paying for electricity. I even jumped on the Tesla Model 3 announcement in April 2016 and put in my reservation deposit! But timing wasn’t right - we sold our house, uprooted and moved to Texas. I still miss the weather in LA and our life there!
Living in Texas, you never really get used to the heat. The Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex gets an average of 232 days of sunshine a year, but the temperatures can get extreme in the summer months. It’s not unusual to have continuous weeks of daily 100+ degree days! 🥵 Texas also has an unique electrical grid system that experienced a catastrophic failure during the Snowmageddan of 2021. We also lived with routine power failures during storms and peak usage. The cost of electricity in Texas kept going up and I couldn’t believe how much it cost to power my house during the summer months! This didn’t feel like the modern energy-rich society anymore…
A series of events took place that set in motion my personal transition to sustainability. The stars were aligning and I could see the future and began to plan my journey.
I believe in Tesla. I believe in Elon Musk. I became a shareholder. I wanted to experience the vision. I was sold by the power of the ecosystem Tesla was building.
Seeing is believing. I had a unique opportunity in 2014 as part of a Silicon Valley tour I was doing to visit Tesla HQ. A Tesla battery engineer showed me around and even took me for a ride in a test car (Model S). I was sold!
<aside> ⚡ 2014: I visited Tesla HQ in Palo Alto. 2016: Tesla acquired Solar City in 2016 for $2.6Billion
2017: Tesla announced the more affordable [Model 3 EV sedan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_3#:~:text=The Tesla Model 3 is,Inc.%2C introduced in 2017.) in 2016 (pre-order) / 2017 (shipping)
2017: Tesla announced the [Powerwall in 2015 and the Powerwall 2 in 2017](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall#:~:text=The Powerwall was introduced in,entering production in late 2023.) to create a battery storage solution for homes
2020: I purchased my first position in $TSLA stock
2021: Elon moves Tesla HQ to Texas (Austin) from California after clashing with California’s approach to regulations, taxes and COVID-19 policies.
2022: Tesla and Texas announced the availability of Tesla Electric as an electricity provider for the state in 2022 to compete in the open market
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