Solar Powered Radio

This will be my last post on clean-energy radio (wind-power, hydro etc.) There is no geothermal radio station in the united states (or anywhere else so far as I can tell) so solar will be the last part of this series.

KTAO 101.9 FM is a lean commercial Triple A station way out to the distant South East of Santa fe. This, while technically an unrated market area is home to an interesting "green"
community full of artists and other crafty buggers. Audioclips from my favorite Taos-ian tree-hugger here: http://www.jhfarr.com/farrsound/index.html

The KTAO transmitter power utilises a Photovoltaic system, which was installed in 1991. It consists of an array of 140 photovoltaic panels. For those of you who did not graduate from cal Poly Tech, Photovoltaic cells are silicon wafers that convert sunlight into direct [D.C.] current. Each panel in the array generates about 32 kilowatts a day. This electricity is stored in batteries for use at the transmitter. It was designed and built by Solar Survival Architecture. Paradise Power Company, who are local Taos-ians. visit their site here: http://www.earthship.org/

the sun-worshippers at KTAO also host the annual Taos Solar Music Festival. It's a collaboration with the New Mexico Solar Energy Association. Info here: http://www.solarmusicfest.com/index.shtml