So I've been meaning to get into reading solarpunk fiction and maybe try my hand at writing it. However, I have a real hang-up: How do you establish conflict for characters in a much better world? Conflict is what makes a story interesting to read and learn from and it is what prompts character growth and change. I'm looking more for conflict ROOTED in the solarpunk world, not just that like the solarpunk world is the setting for a love triangle or whatever.

It's easy to do for cyberpunk because there are a variety of conflicting interests and people screwing each other over for power and wealth, but that's not the case in a solarpunk world. Most of the examples I can think involve the "maker-hero" developing sustainable technology to help build an underground solarpunk community or the leading revolutionary seeking to overthrow a cyberpunk dystopia and replace it with a solarpunk one.

But what about in a pre-established solar punk world? What are some interesting conflicts that could make for a good story there? Any good books/examples I should look into?

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Thanks!

Hey peeps.

I've got an extra 100w solar panel (harbor freight) that's leftover from a different project and I was wondering if anyone had any creative ideas to put it to use.

For context, I live full time in an RV with my partner and our pets. Doggo and two cats. Solar power, composting toilet, etc. I don't really want to setup another battery, we already have the main house battery and an auxiliary one for charging phones and whatever. So I'm thinking of doing something like using it to power a few small fans throughout the RV only while the sun is out, or using it to charge some other device with an internal battery.

Before committing I figured I'd post here and see if I could get any unique or useful suggestions.

Thanks! :)

I've been getting further into solarpunk as an alternative future for out world. One thing that come sup very often, and in my research I struggle to find a coherent answer to is what are the alternatives to Lithium/Nickle/Cobalt batteries. These are the batteries almost everything we use require, but are really harmful to the environment and the mining of these resources cause a lot of heart issues to the miners. Are there any alternatives, I've heard of sodium batteries but they seem to have their downsides also?

New solarpunk short story collection

https://leidenuniv.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0fzn8imjfXxWTyK

"Dear Solarpunks, my name is Benjamín Maldonado, a Chilean 21 year old Solarpunk ethusiast that throughout the last few months, has tried to learn as much as possible about the movement and genre. This personal passion led me to choose Solarpunk as the subject of my thesis for the Bachelor of Cultural Anthropology at Leiden University." Copied from website.

https://earthstream.social/@HopePunkFTW over on mastodon is looking for collaborators for a quarterly film festival.

Please let me know if the link does not work.

Hello! Well, I just bought a former cannabis farm in the rugged, beautiful mountains of coastal Mendocino. I intend to slowly craft the land to be an escape for my friends and family. And a kind of better way of living closer to the earth, while leveraging technology.. I want it to become an experiment in solarpunk living.

It's off-the-grid and I'm installing mobile trailer-based solar systems. There's water in the form of several creeks and freshwater springs on the top of the mountain. And room for yurts and tiny houses. Consistent south-west facing sunlight. Plenty of fuel (excess wood) and sunlight.

If you were given this opportunity to make a solarpunk community, what would you do with it? How to make this a shining example of how we could be.

Feedback welcome!

Howdy friends! Happy Earth Day! I am graduating with my Bachelor's in Environmental and Sustainability Studies this spring so I am hosting a little ceremony with some friends and family to celebrate. Any cool Solarpunk ideas y'all can think of for the occasion?

Already I am thinking of having it mostly outside if the weather holds, vegan food, intergenerational, and I'm also hoping to impart some Solarpunk ethics upon my guests as I think that it has been a hopeful and action inspiring movement for me.

Thanks for your input!

Lowest cost per tree I could find and a quick search on /r/solarpunk shows that this project keeps coming up over and over. I realize I'm newer to this community so I haven't seen the older posts. For that reason I'm renewing the topic again in hopes others will keep doing the same.