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‘Energy independence feels practical’: Europeans building mini solar farms

euronews.com

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Re: ‘Energy independence feels practical’: Europeans building mini solar farms

#361

Post by conorcleary »

pjc50 wrote: post #76
conorcleary wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Used 240w modules built in 2010-2012 are worth $60-100 CAD at the moment in small quantities. There will be hundreds of thousands hitting the market (as long as they didn't hit the ground with careless removals) in ~2030+ as microFIT contracts in Ontario expire. There is no clear path to switching these arrays to Net Metering, as of yet. Prepare for all sorts of unrecycled solar panels and potential loss of renewable…

Could you elaborate on this? Why would people remove a working solar system?

In Ontario, there is a feed-in-tariff program for payment in exchange for renewable/green energy generation direct-to-grid. This program has contracts which expire. The microFIT program (under 10kW/hr solar capacity) has a bulk of contracts expire around the same short period of time.

There is not-yet a fully funded or thought-through method for extending contracts or providing better-than-dismantle options to contract owners that is/are accessible.

Re: ‘Energy independence feels practical’: Europeans building mini solar farms

#362

Post by conorcleary »

mrguyorama wrote: post #122
jandrese wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buildings get torn down. Roof needs a replacement and the owner doesn't feel like it is worthwhile to redo the solar install for panels that only have 5 years of warranty left, or maybe they want to replace them with higher power models with a fresh warranty. There are any number of reasons why someone might need to offload otherwise functional solar panels.

Currently used solar panels are a hot commodity, with many groups selling them by the pallet, because 10 year old solar panels are still efficient enough to easily pay for themselves. Very few installations will care about specifically how many panels they want, they just want a nameplate output per dollar figure. Old inverters might not have a second life though.

All of these things should be given second lives, refurbished, firmware upgrades, recycled, etc.

Re: ‘Energy independence feels practical’: Europeans building mini solar farms

#363

Post by leonidasrup »

daveguy wrote: post #173
leonidasrup wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Finland you produce more electricity from nuclear energy, than from hydropower, wind, or solar. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-prod-source-s... The amounts for year 2025: Nuclear 32 TWh, Wind 22 TWh, Hydro 12 TWh, Solar 1TWh.

And more from hydropower, wind, and solar, than from nuclear.

Contribution of solar in Finland is really insignificant.

Re: ‘Energy independence feels practical’: Europeans building mini solar farms

#364

Post by yawaramin »

javcasas wrote: post #317
yawaramin wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> expected lifespan of >30 years More like > I think being reliant on the fossil fuel supply chain for so long France isn't. And they are net exporting their (nuclear fission) electricity to their neighbours who shut down nuclear power plants.

After 25 years, their production has dropped to 80%. Unlike what you imply, they don't explode and you have to replace them all. They just keep producing, but less.

I don't know about others but personally I'd like my electricity source to not be constantly degrading over time and requiring maintenance crews to go out and replace the panels as they randomly start falling below the required efficiency levels. I'd prefer if the entire production unit was a single all-inclusive compound maintained by the team on site, with a relatively compact ecological footprint.

Re: ‘Energy independence feels practical’: Europeans building mini solar farms

#365

Post by javcasas »

yawaramin wrote: post #364
javcasas wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After 25 years, their production has dropped to 80%. Unlike what you imply, they don't explode and you have to replace them all. They just keep producing, but less.

I don't know about others but personally I'd like my electricity source to not be constantly degrading over time and requiring maintenance crews to go out and replace the panels as they randomly start falling below the required efficiency levels. I'd prefer if the entire production unit was a single all-inclusive compound maintained by the team on site, with a relatively compact ecological footprint.

So tell us what you have there that doesn't need maintenance over 25 years.
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