Power from the Great Beyond: Spanish Town Puts Solar Panels on Graves
We don’t usually expect graveyards to give us much besides a chance to express grief, but a small town outside Barcelona, Spain has found a new use for them: energy powerhouses. The town of Santa Coloma de Gramenet has placed 462 solar panels on top of mausoleums in the local cemetery. The panels will provide enough power for 60 homes.
- » See also: Asia Light Years Ahead of the US in Clean Tech Investment — Financial and Economic Consequences
- » Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
Apparently, flat, open, sun-accessible land is so hard to come by in the town that the graveyard was the only viable place to install solar panels.
And while some may consider the move sacrilegious, the company that is running the renewable energy program believes that the best way to pay tribute to the dead is by letting them generate renewable energy for the current generation. That’s something I find hard to argue with.
Photo Credit: AP
Wow, that is unusual! Hmm, I wonder if we can make power from cremating dead bodies?
I don’t know how much the families of the dead would like this, but I think it’s a great idea. I hope they someday get to put one on mine!
I think that it is a great idea.
Spanish graveyards are unlike those found in other European countries: They have “walls” of tombs, with caskets stacked 5-10 high above ground, closed in with a concrete slab with the “tombstone” on it. The panels will be out of sight at ground level, and will serve to provide shade to the mourners as well!
I’ve always said that when I die just put me in a sack and throw it in the dumpster … I’m not there anymore anyway.
Now that I can host a solar panel, I’ll have to rethink things.