TI-108

 Is it okay if I jump around a little bit? 

Not physically, even thought I have enough energy this morning it would probably do me well. 

I'm talking jump around chronologically. I know you knew. 

Fast forward to the 6th grade. They handed us all calculators in math class. I thought they were so cool. This little device could take the input I gave it by pressing on the buttons and that was then displayed on the little LCD display. Then I could tell it to add something, subtract, divide--even square root! I think kids were more easily amused, or impressed back then. Or maybe it was just me. 

Okay, memories are coming back even as I type this. I remember the squishyness of the keys. I remember thinking those keys were a solid, high quality plastic. They had little bumps on the keys. But, the thing I thought was the coolest feature about this little device, was the little black square in the upper left below the display. The little solar panel. Is it called a panel? Whatever. What I found out as I messed around with this calculator is that it didn't require a battery to operate. It worked off of the power of light. Not even sunlight, but the light from the lights above my head in the classroom. 

I remember placing my finger over the little solar panel and I would watch it dim. Then I would uncover the little panel and watch it come back to life. This was kind of mind-blowing to me. How on Earth does this work? How does an electronic device get electricity from light? Who cares about math! How does this thing work. (I bet that explanation involves some math).

Fast forward again to today. Surprise, I still think solar panels are super cool. When I see a house with solar panels, or a parking lot that has a shade canopy that also has solar panels on it, I am just pleased. 

I want to see rooftops of business and government buildings covered in solar panels. Parking lots. Parking lots are the worst. They are often empty. They exist for the possibility that someone may need to leave their car there for a moment.

I haven't researched this in depth. I mean, I want to. I might later. But for now, what I would venture to guess is that parking lots in Albuquerque generate a lot of heat. Would a parking lot with a shade canopy that has solar panels also generate... generate is the wrong term. Radiate. Would it radiate heat like a parking lot? It's black. It absorbs the heat. (I made a podcast about this.) I need to listen to my podcast again to find out. But, will it make a city hotter? Hotter than maybe a roof that is white and reflective? A lot of the buildings in downtown Albuquerque are white. 

Anyway, that's one question. But parking lots. They're already black mostly. Some are concrete, but the rest are asphalt. Imagine if your parking lot was shaded everywhere you go. It seems like a win-win to me. Cars are cooler. Electricity is generated.