As I was dropping my daughter off at school this morning, I noticed a traffic sign--a big arrow sign--that was solar powered. Solar Technology, Inc. is the manufacturer of the sign. I looked up this company on the internet to see what other products it makes. It manufactures arrow boards, message signs, etc., all of which are solar powered. It got me to thinking about other outdoor signs and lighting needs--e.g. all of the energy used in Times Square. Why can't more of our outdoor lighting be solar powered, especially in areas where so much is consumed at once for advertising? When there was a heat wave this summer, causing a much higher demand on the power grid than normal, all of the lighting displays at Times Square were turned off temporarily. Exactly how many kilowatts are used there all day, every day? I have the same question for the countless lights on the strip in Las Vegas--for all of this glitz, how much are we using in kilowatts? If we are going to continue enjoying the luxuries of using so much power simply as an aesthetic, showing-off kind of thing, at the very least, we should be investigating how to supply some of this power via alternative energy. If some of these big signs advertising various companies, products, hotels, casinos, etc. could be solar-powered, at least we could feel better about being so wasteful and overboard in our power usage. Right now, a lot of that power is probably coming from coal plants, which aren't nearly so attractive to look at. There is a real price for the appearance of luxury in some places, which is the pollution caused to other places that are away from the spotlight. Improved solar power technology could be used not only to direct us on the roads, but also to direct us to the stores we want to go to, the hotels we want to visit, the casinos we want to gamble at, etc.