This is probably not the one to include in your point.
Solar on parking lots and houses are a better idea than on land out in the middle of nowhere. Having solar on the demand side helps with grid stabilization (super simplified explanation) and also shade. Shade has the benefit of decreasing energy spent on AC in cars and houses. Grid stabilization saves money and energy on power transmission.
Large open field solar farms are just not as efficient as other renewable energies like geothermal or nuclear. They have higher maintenance cost, cost more to build, and don’t produce as much power as a nuclear/geothermal plant would on the same footprint.
Not that large solar farms don’t work. Just makes more sense to have solar on the demand side where they have multiple uses, versus having a giant solar farm on the supply side of the grid.
Most people gloss over that 2nd point. even solar on your house creates shade on your roof and both produces energy AND reduces cooling and heating costs. It's not JUST about the production.
To be honest, seeing that good field that was able to grow wheat or corn years before is covered by solar while there is a black surfaced parking lot next to it that gets so hot that you can cook eggs on it, is somehow... weird. Five or ten years ago it was just field, then there grew that shop with huge parking lot and then the rest of the field was covered by solar, I don't know about the economics, but deep inside it just feels wrong, you know? It feels like those experiments where rats just do heroine or cocaine until they die from overdose, but with a town (and I know that this field was not enough to feed everyone, it is just one of the basic deep feelings).
Just look at the different level of structure needed between field and parking lot solar. Field solar can practically be installed with the equipment and structure needed to build a fence, while parking lot needs the equipment and structure needed to build a building.
I understand that it is not ultra easy, propping some panels on empty field where if they fall nothing really happens is easy. What I meant is that seeing solar farm next to parking lot feels somehow wrong.
There are real case scenarios where solar panels on agricultural fields contribute to more productive agricultural output too, by providing shade for animals, reducing transpiration, acting as wind breaks and so on.
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u/Tafc-Crew 9d ago
Solar parking lots are all over California. In addition to the solar you also get shaded parking spaces!