Seems renewable energy is popping up everywhere lately. The newest converts? The Amish. Yea that’s right the Amish. Seems they care more about independence and having reliable power than they do shunning technology.

Hundreds of Amish are taken with getting energy from the sun. They see it as a safe alternative to natural gas and kerosene as a source of light.

Livestock farmer Owen Nisley of nearby Charm said getting power through solar panels is “no different from my cows eating the grass that has captured the sun’s energy. … We love the solar, even in the winter when there are a lot of dark days.”

The equipment has become so prevalent that the environmental group Green Energy Ohio is organizing an Amish Country tour during the American Solar Energy Society’s 36th annual convention, July 7-12, in Cleveland. About 1,800 people from across the nation are expected to attend the conference and trade show.

Squaring solar panels with the Amish tradition of forgoing the fancy is easy for Jake Raber, co-owner of The Lighthouse of Ohio Distribution in Fredericksburg.

“I am a Christian and I am Amish. But being Amish is not a religion. It’s a way of life,” Raber said. “Being Amish means being independent.”

Raber and his wife, Betty, ordered $50,000 worth of solar panels last year from suppliers in Michigan and Japan and sold them all. Many of his customers are Amish families who don’t require the amounts of electricity their non-Amish neighbors use.(via)

The Amish use so little electricity that the cost of a solar system for their home would be greatly reduced from ours. In a way this illustrates just how valuable solar power can be for developing nations. If your goal is simply to power one led light, a radio, and a small water pump, your solar system can be very small and still be very effective. The Amish live a simple life, but still understand the value of solar power.