Three of Santiago Pérez's relatives lie in the cemetery of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a city just outside Barcelona. Nonbeliever that he is, Pérez doesn't visit their graves often. But he was recently there for a funeral and found himself impressed with the latest addition: a glittering expanse of solar panels that now runs along the top of the grave walls into which Spaniards bury coffins and urns alike. "If you're one of those people who thinks all cemeteries should look like castles, draped in shadows, then maybe you won't like this one," the 46-year-old pet shop owner admits. "But I think it looks modern."
Modern it certainly is. Santa Coloma is the first city in Spain to convert its municipal burial place into what is essentially a power plant. The installation consists of 462 solar panels spread over roughly 10,700 sq. ft. (1000 sq. m.), and has a capacity of 100 kilowatts, enough to meet the energy needs of 60 families. (See pictures from Spain's madcap tomato festival.)
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