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American solar farms

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Re: American solar farms

#231

Post by dzhiurgis »

zie wrote: post #227
t1234s wrote: post #222

Solar panels == shade. Any companies deploying solar in this manner (parking lots, pedestrian trails, bus benches, etc..)

Yes, many companies are doing this in their parking lots, even some govt buildings do this. My local library has panels setup over part of their parking lot for instance.

Is it economically viable (pays itself)? It looks simple, but designing a shade is no small feat.

I looked once into solar covers for EV charging spots and it would provide like 5% of energy, not worth the hassle.

For parking the convenience is definitely worth it, but economically I don't think supermarkets care that much.

Re: American solar farms

#232

Post by analog31 »

buckle8017 wrote: post #200
analog31 wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if you could just run them backwards for a while to clear them. Use the V*I loss.

The energy it takes to do that is significant. Often exceeding the energy gained in the winter.

I'm thinking if the sun can warm the panels enough for a thin layer of ice to slide off, then it can't take that much more energy to make a thick layer slide off.

Re: American solar farms

#233

Post by [deleted] »

RALaBarge wrote: post #224
paulnpace wrote: post #8

My experience has been that people living next to newly constructed solar farms are unhappy about living next to a solar farm. It is also my experience that this is a fringe opinion because a very low percentage of people live next to solar farms.

I come from rural Michigan and everyone in the areas where the turbines are complain about it. Its the view or its the sound. The former sure, the latter I haven't heard it myself but I don't go home anymore. It is also the only new investments made in the area in 50 years in any which way shape or form. When they first started, they had to build the infrastructure and stations to collect the power to transport it fr…

[deleted]

Re: American solar farms

#234

Post by dzhiurgis »

ellisv wrote: post #68
IAmBroom wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having farmers in the family, I can confirm they are unhappy about living next to anything other than what they grew up next to. Also, the rainfall. Some farmers go from morning to night never saying a word that isn't a complaint about the rainfall being wrong.

> Also, the rainfall. Some farmers go from morning to night never saying a word that isn't a complaint about the rainfall being wrong. Yes. Some of them use proper rain gauges but some just complain about it. Basically none of them understand the difference between a point measurement and an areal average estimate.

> Some of them use proper rain gauges

OOOhh is there a device I can get that tracks this for home?

Re: American solar farms

#235

Post by dzhiurgis »

wingworks wrote: post #225
bluGill wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nuclear is a good candidate - they take up a lot less land mass for the amount of power generated. I used to leave near one, and when my neighbors where asked where it was most pointed instead to a coal power plant many miles away.

In theory I wouldn't mind living next to nuclear. I say in theory, because we've seen too many times when someone cuts corners, or has deadlines or poorly trained staff on site, that when things go wrong, they can sometimes go very very wrong.

When I visited one (decommissioned one in Ignalina, Lithuania where they filmed Chernobyl series) they said the radiation levels are higher than neutral/ambient, but lower than in city because all the concrete is slightly radioactive.

Re: American solar farms

#236

Post by zie »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #231
zie wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, many companies are doing this in their parking lots, even some govt buildings do this. My local library has panels setup over part of their parking lot for instance.

Is it economically viable (pays itself)? It looks simple, but designing a shade is no small feat. I looked once into solar covers for EV charging spots and it would provide like 5% of energy, not worth the hassle. For parking the convenience is definitely worth it, but economically I don't think supermarkets care that much.

I've never done the math, but I've seen Walmarts start putting solar panels as cover in their parking lots.

Re: American solar farms

#237

Post by wingworks »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #235
wingworks wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory I wouldn't mind living next to nuclear. I say in theory, because we've seen too many times when someone cuts corners, or has deadlines or poorly trained staff on site, that when things go wrong, they can sometimes go very very wrong.

When I visited one (decommissioned one in Ignalina, Lithuania where they filmed Chernobyl series) they said the radiation levels are higher than neutral/ambient, but lower than in city because all the concrete is slightly radioactive.

Yeah, that is my understanding too. Usually the inside the plant the radiation is lower than many other industrial places too. But my concern is when things go wrong (like flooding in Japan) the radius of which it can effect can be quite large and take a long time to recover.

Re: American solar farms

#238

Post by shkkmo »

ctime wrote: post #56

The arid and sunny west ware prime candidates for solar, yet the current administration is doing everything they can to further destroy any chance a future of being carbon neutral with cancellations of many projects. TFG cancelled a fairly far along project to build 6gw of solar in the Nevada desert just a few days ago known as Esmeralda 7. The ineptitude and grift of this administration will haunt this country for d…

Looks like this is just misinterpretation of poor public communication by the BLM.

> UPDATE: The U.S. Bureau of Land Management responded to 8 News Now on Friday afternoon to clarify the meaning of a “canceled” notice on the Esmeralda Seven Solar Project. A decision to combine the environmental reviews for the seven projects is being changed to give each project the option of submitting their proposal separately. The BLM’s statement: “During routine discussions prior to the lapse in appropriations, the proponents and BLM agreed to change their approach for the Esmeralda 7 Solar Project in Nevada. Instead of pursuing a programmatic level environmental analysis, the applicants will now have the option to submit individual project proposals to the BLM to more effectively analyze potential impacts.”

> The “Cancelled – Cancelled” notice on BLM’s NEPA website applies only to the environmental review stage. The entire project has not been canceled.

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/massive-esmeralda-s...

Re: American solar farms

#239

Post by UltraSane »

bluGill wrote: post #135
sigwinch wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure land is the controlling factor. Look at current fuel mix: the upper Midwest is mostly coal, with all its disadvantages. How was it possible for Iowa, South Dakota, and Kansas to choose wind?

Iowa choose wind because 20 years ago it wasn't an issue and someone put in a clause that made building wind an advantage to utilities so they tried. By the time wind became an issue elsewhere there was too much installed in Iowa for anyone to be able to claim it couldn't work and in turn those who made it political have to be quiet about it when they come to Iowa.

Texas also has a lot of wind power because it is so windy and has a huge amount of land.

Re: American solar farms

#240

Post by UltraSane »

patall wrote: post #29
UltraSane wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can understand not wanting to live close to wind turbines but I don't understand the issue with living next to a solar farm since the panels just sit there silently.

The only problem that I kind of understand are the huge fences surrounding the farms. Because copper thefts are a big problem for them, it is quite common to have 3m high fences all around, which is obviously more gated community like than a monoculture field. And of course, it depends on how the farm is run. Solar farms can be ecological heaven if managed properly, unless growing weeds are just killed of with round-…

The solar farm I live near has a 5 foot tall fence.
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