Central Florida Energy Consultant  

John L McLane III is a grass roots environmentalist who has always wanted to do his part.  After hiking through the mountainous rain forest on the island nation of Dominica in the spring of 2005 his life calling was realized.  Upon returning to Central Florida he began his search for ways to make a difference.  During the winter of 2006 John purchased a 65 watt solar panel, 12 volt battery, solar controller, dc to ac power inverter and installed it on his balcony to better understand and learn the technology.  From this small scale learning experiment much about the potential benefits and limitations of solar panels has been learned.  Most importantly a better understanding for energy efficiency and proper planning has been the best lesson learned.

     In its current configuration John's Solar System offsets 1-2% of his annual energy consumption and serves as an emergency back-up system to supply a limited amount of energy on a daily basis.  Powering essential energy needs of 600 watts or less my system charges a cell phone and fish tanks on a daily non-emergency basis.  Fans and lights are powered during an interruption of grid power to maintain a minimum level of comfort.  The feeling of knowing your equipment, appliance, vehicle, home or business is powered by green renewable solar energy is a good one.  Only fully understood once a regular use or understanding of solar energy benefits are realized through experience.

     John is currently working with a Trucking and Heavy Equipment company recycling used cooking oil into clean burning biodiesel.  Biodiesel made from used cooking oil is an efficient use of a given resource.  Once the nutrition of virgin oil has been used for cooking it must be disposed of or recycled.  Recycling used cooking oil is by far the best and most efficient use of a renewable resource.