John Bagu says North Dakota's largest industry - agriculture - relies on the sun. He says there's no reason why we can't get the majority of our energy from it.
Bagu is a biochemist at NDSU but says his passion is in renewable energy. Three years ago he bought solar panels for his family home in Fargo and today, they live completely off the grid. Bagu says his home uses about 20 kilowatt hours of power every day - but rain or shine, his solar panels produce more than that. Whatever he doesn't use, he can store in sealed lead batteries. He says he wanted to pursue a solar energy home because it's a safer environment to raise children in and in the long run, it saves money. But Bagu is hoping his passion for renewable energy can spark a movement in his community. He says society should not be one-way-dependent on fossil fuels.
"Right now, we view energy as one-directional. It comes to us from our companies. But that's a lousy way to do things - if you think about it, we should view energy like the internet, where we share information back and forth. We should be sharing energy back and forth. There's no reason why we shouldn't have everybody on the block with solar panels, pulling energy production - when somebody needs it, they get it, when they don't need it, they don't get it. And so from that perspective, we should be focusing on developing a more internet style of energy production - not our current one-directional way."
Bagu says he was "stupid" when he bought his panels and hardware. He says he bought a "Cadillac" when he should have bought a "Toyota." What he means is he could have purchased a more efficient system for less money instead, but that was back when he understood less about living on solar energy. He says he could have had about 96 percent efficiency, versus the 84 percent he has now - but he recognizes the alternative is much less efficient.
"What is fracking's efficiency out west? Their average efficiency is 10 percent. If they had 84 percent efficiency, North Dakota would be producing 8 million barrels of oil a day instead of one. We would be equal to Saudi Arabia's production, this state by itself. So while I'm not happy with 84 percent, they wish they had 20 or 30 percent because then they'd be producing 2 or 3 million barrels per day."
Bagu says adding solar energy panels to homes would create jobs, and help communities save money. He says the city of Fargo alone could save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year that could be spent within the community. Bagu says he has spent his savings at his local dental office.
