Remember the dog days of last summer? The sun beat down on your car’s interior which eventually turned your leather seats into scorching hot leather frying pans. You know how the interior of your car felt like an oven? It happens every summer.

As you noticed the neighbor’s children melting in the heat waves of their driveways, you start to wonder, “If only we could capture this energy to help heat and cool our homes by using the sun’s power.”

It seems like such a waste to let that huge source of energy go untapped and unused. Remember how we were promised during the 1970s energy crisis how alternative energy sources were being developed? Well, the reality was very different from the dream. Solar power technology is not ready to be used as a stable and viable source of energy to heat and cool our homes and buildings. Or so I thought, until I ran into an old friend over the holidays.

We were discussing each other’s businesses when my friend, Rich Aleo from Brisk Solar, started telling me how he was getting business done with the sun on three continents and selling solar power at the retail level. As he was talking, my natural skepticism crept into my line of questioning.

I asked Rich what had changed that makes his product a viable and sustainable solution for solar power. He said, “Brisk Solar has developed solar panels that are about 48 in. by 30 in. and can generate 235 watts on an overcast day, and a bit more on a sunny day. If you take 235 watts and divide by 5 kilowatts, this determines how many panels you would need. So you would need 5 kilowatts to run an average size home.”

Many of the panels are placed on homes and buildings in discreet locations that are not visible from the street, or they can be installed on-site at grade level in a remote location. Interestingly, many people wear their solar panels as a badge of honor. They choose to display their panels to their friends and neighbors to show the world that they are committed to being green and reducing their energy consumption.

As the conversation continued the subject of how to store collected solar energy was next on my list of questions. I asked how many batteries were required to store enough energy to run an average home. His answer took me by surprise. He said there are no batteries required with this system. (“No batteries” are words that parents can really appreciate after the holidays!) He explained their process.