It’s funny sometimes, how things get started in your head. The year was 1974.

I recall my first foray into solar power. I was 10 or 11 years old, in the fifth grade, Mr. Efron’s class at good old Hainsport elementary.

I had found an old solar panel that my father had rescued from the scrap pile where he had worked; he worked in the aerospace industry.

Anyway, I was kind of fascinated with it and began hooking it up to just about anything D.C. that I could. Later that year, I was eligible to enter my first Science Fair.

With the help of my older brother, I built a stand for an incandescent lamp and hooked the panel up to an old tabletop radio. And proudly proclaimed, "Someday homes will be powered with this technology!"

I did not win that year, but I did win in the 8th grade with my "Electronic Eclipsing Machine!" This involved a 30 R.P.M. 3-volt D.C. motor my father had once again rescued from the junk pile at work.

This web page is still running on a Raspberry Pi, now it is a Pi 4 with 4 gigs.

In about 2016, I started playing with Raspberry Pi computers, and again I was hooked and fascinated to learn that you could build and run a L.A.M.P. server on a $50.00 computer.

So, I got a PI 2B and ran off to Harbor Freight and got their 45-watt solar panel system. With a little help from a block converter, we were off and running!

I then upgraded to a 1500-watt solar system I built when I found a local vendor selling used panels for about $50.00 for a 250-watt panel.

Well, this worked very well, but I was always afraid that the wind might damage them, and they did not look that great in my front yard. So I went with a whole house TESLA system. That’s not 100% online yet, but we are working on it.

My point is one thing leads to the next if you’re lucky and still hold on to the wonder.