We have been powering our household and electric car with our own solar energy for more than two months now and I want to share the most eye-opening insight to date.

First, though, I need to tell you that I really, really want to generate all the power we use, if not more. To this end, we continue to walk everywhere we can instead of using the car (which is good for both our bodies and our environmental footprint). We also try to reduce our power usage at home as much as possible. We dry clothes on a rack instead of in the dryer, open the windows on cool nights and close out the sun on hot days so we don’t have to use AC, use master/slave power strips to shut down dependent devices, turn lights off when they aren’t necessary, cook and bake with care, especially if it is hot outside, and unplug all those things that glow and blink.

We have been through this before in a previous house that we solarized and were rewarded with steadily growing credits in place of an electric bill and, even more important, the pride that comes with reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

Two things are different this time:

1) The technology is vastly improved! We are generating more power with fewer panels and more power early in the mornings, late in the day, and on cloudy days than we ever did at our previous house, and

2) We’ve added an electric car to the equation!

I track our usage and generation carefully. I want to know where we stand so we can do even better.

So here is what has opened my eyes recently. Our electric car gets three times the mileage of our previous car, a 50 mpg Prius, according to e-mpg calculations. While I don’t really know where those numbers come from, I believe our car’s energy usage is really low compared to cars with internal combustion engines. Despite this efficiency, I was blown away to discover that driving only about 45 – 50 miles uses as many kWhs as our household consumes in a day. Now think about how readily and frequently people burn through 50 miles just darting about on whim and driving to places they could walk. And think about the total miles people drive just because we live in a car culture where it is the norm to commute long distances and buzz around on impulse, often without passengers. Internal combustion engines are simply ridiculous energy hogs. It blows me away!

I’m not guilt-free in this, though. I flew to France this week. On one of a zillion planes crossing the Atlantic every day. Sucking up energy like I can’t imagine and can’t think about right now. In the meantime, I hope my internal combustion engine insight inspires you to think twice about jumping in your car. We all have to change our thinking and our habits if we are to shrink our destructive impact on the planet. Besides, walking is good exercise.

I hope you joy the beautiful fall/spring weather while you walk when you can to strengthen your body and save the planet! Happy September!