The Solar Revival: Nelly, Joe, and Canada’s Energy Revolution
The winter in Newfoundland had been particularly harsh, the kind of cold that seeped into bones and kept oil bills sky-high. Across Canada, energy prices were soaring, pipelines sparked protests, and renewable energy projects struggled under red tape. The grid, strained and outdated, was groaning.
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Nelly Furtado and her right-hand man, Joe McDonald, stared at a whiteboard filled with scribbles, arrows, and one bold underlined question:
“How do we power Canada—freely, cleanly, and creatively?”
Joe, ever the tinkerer and dreamer, leaned back in his chair and grinned. “Nelly, we’ve got to look to the past to save the future.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Nikola Tesla. The man who dreamed of free energy for all. And junk. Lots of junk.”
The Plan: Old Discs and Cosmic Rays
Joe’s idea was as unconventional as it was brilliant.
- Recycling Old CDs and DVDs into Solar Panels:
Across Canada, garages and basements were cluttered with boxes of obsolete CDs and DVDs. The reflective layers on these discs—thin films of aluminum—could be repurposed to create low-cost solar panels. The discs, once junk, would now catch sunlight and generate clean energy.“We’ll call it Project Solar Spin,” Joe announced. “Turning yesterday’s music into tomorrow’s power.” - Tesla’s Forgotten Inventions:
Joe had spent years studying Tesla’s lesser-known works, including his Cosmic Ray Collector—a device Tesla claimed could harness energy from the universe itself. Compact enough to fit in a suitcase, it could draw electricity from cosmic rays and atmospheric energy.“Imagine a world,” Joe said, “where every home has a little suitcase-sized collector. No wires. No grid. Just free energy from the universe.”Then there were Tesla’s Energy Towers, designed to transmit wireless power across vast distances. Joe proposed building modern versions of these towers, strategically placed across Canada, to deliver energy to remote communities and off-grid areas.
The Pilot Project
The first Solar Spin pilot site was in Newfoundland, Joe’s home province. On a brisk spring morning, volunteers unloaded crates of CDs and DVDs donated by Canadians from coast to coast. Families laughed as they sorted discs—old albums, burned movies, and forgotten mixtapes—into piles.
“These discs are going to shine again,” Joe told a group of schoolkids. “But this time, they’re shining for the sun.”
Engineers worked day and night, embedding the reflective surfaces of the discs into lightweight, modular panels. The result was stunning: a shimmering patchwork of colors that turned rooftops into works of art.
Meanwhile, Joe unveiled his replica of Tesla’s suitcase-sized Cosmic Ray Collector. It looked deceptively simple—metallic plates, an antenna, and a few small circuits—but when activated, it produced a steady flow of electricity.
“Free power,” Joe said, holding up the device. “No coal, no gas. Just energy, all around us, waiting to be tapped.”
The Results
Within months, Newfoundland’s pilot project was a success. Homes powered by CD solar panels saw their energy bills drop to nearly zero. The Tesla Towers transmitted energy wirelessly to fishing villages that had long relied on diesel generators. And the suitcase-sized Cosmic Ray Collectors became a symbol of hope, providing clean, portable power to families in need.
Nelly Furtado stood in front of a crowd in St. John’s, beaming with pride.
“We took what was forgotten—old technology, old dreams—and gave it new life,” she said. “This is the future of energy: clean, accessible, and free for all Canadians.”
Joe added, “We don’t need to dig up the earth or burn it to stay warm. The universe gives us energy freely. All we have to do is listen to Tesla and look at our junk a little differently.”
The National Rollout
The success of the Newfoundland pilot sparked a nationwide movement. Communities across Canada set up Solar Spin Stations, where people donated old discs to be recycled into solar panels. The colorful panels transformed rooftops, schools, and parks into dazzling mosaics of light.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s Energy Towers rose across the prairies, in the Rockies, and along the northern tundra. Remote First Nations communities, long underserved by the grid, were the first to benefit.
The Cosmic Ray Collectors, compact and portable, became standard issue for emergency services, off-grid cabins, and disaster relief teams.
A Brighter Future
Years later, Canada stood as a global leader in clean energy. The Solar Spin Panels were exported worldwide, and Tesla’s dream of free energy had finally come to life.
At a United Nations summit, Prime Minister Nelly Furtado addressed world leaders:
“We didn’t solve our energy problems by looking for something new. We solved them by looking to the past—by honoring the ideas of visionaries like Nikola Tesla and by seeing value in what we once called junk. The future is bright because we chose to make it so.”
Joe, watching from the sidelines, whispered to a journalist, “Who knew CDs and cosmic rays would save the day?”
And so, Canada entered a new golden age—powered by the sun, the stars, and the dreams of those who dared to believe in free energy for all.