After months of wrestling with the local County Building Department about permits and codes, excruciating financial gymnastics and down and dirty back-breaking spadework, we finally got our solar installation up. It's a massive 3 kw (stc) photovoltaic pole mount.

Inscribed around the base of the installation is a sun mantra, OM Suryaya Namaha, honoring the Sun as the principal of light, life and love. In Vedic philosophy, the Sun represents the soul—the causal body or reincarnating entity, as well as the mind of clarity and illumination.

 

As Charles Eisenstein, in Sacred Economics points out, he's "not surprised that ancient people worshiped the sun, the only thing we know that gives without expectation or even possibility of return. The sun is generosity manifest." He goes on, a bit later, to say that "solar energy is the light of earthly love reflected back at us".

So, yes, we think our solar array is beautiful. It's a piece of architectural artwork; it's practical spirituality; it's earthly love reflected back at us!

We've learned that this, however, is not a popularly held viewpoint. Comments to us have ranged from "what's that monstrosity in your back yard?" to "I wouldn't put something like that on my property!" Oh, there was also the woman who asked if we were "expecting an alien landing". Good grief.

These comments, mind you, all came from people who wouldn't think twice if there were a couple of junk cars sitting out there, or maybe even a garish TV satellite receiver. If we had stashed an old washer or dryer on the back porch or had a couple of broken-down snowmobiles in the shed, they'd walk right by them, too, and never bat an eyelash. But, some solar panels? No way!

Aren't we really addressing an age-old philosophical question about what constitutes beauty? Or fashion?

For example, no self-respecting chic woman of the 21st century would be caught dead in a fitted bodice with gathers and heavily padded shoulders. But, if this were 1942, she'd be sizzling.

And, I'll bet that few people thought that all of those poles and electric lines that got hung in the early 1900's were ugly. Probably not: they were too excited about exchanging their oil lamps for light bulbs.

If we're really talking about aesthetics, a nicely trimmed oil lamp is way prettier than a light switch. But, electric lights were a step forward. They lessened the chance of a house fire, didn't emit fumes and put off way more light. So, nobody complained.

Well, it's kind of the same with solar panels: they're a step forward.

Solar power is renewable and non-polluting. And, after the initial investment, all of the electricity produced is free. As a culture, we're just not yet used to looking at them. But, give us a decade or so, and they'll be like those electric wires that are strung all over the place—we'll hardly even notice them. And, when we do, we'll recognize that they're beautiful.

They're beautiful because they're renewable and non-polluting. They're beautiful because making and installing more of them means very serious job creation. And, because they're a step forward.

Their beauty is grounded in their contribution to sustainable futures. They are an icon to something that we are giving to—instead of taking away from—subsequent generations. They are not a fashion statement: they're an evolutionary statement. They're monuments and odes to the awakening of our species.