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I don't know about Solar and wind being inherently less safe, in fact I'd disagree with that. The issue though, is that we still can't rely on them to power our
by Aelinsaar 10y ago
I don't know about Solar and wind being inherently less safe, in fact I'd disagree with that. The issue though, is that we still can't rely on them to power our entire grid. Hydro though, even without failure, seems to have a pretty undesirable environmental impact. Nuclear has to go catastrophically wrong for that to be the case.
- howlin 10y ago> Hydro though, even without failure, seems to have a pretty undesirable environmental impact. Nuclear has to go catastrophically wrong for that to be the case. Arguably, the Chernobyl disaster was an environmental boon by forcing humans out of a region and creating a de facto nature preserve.
- bewaretheirs 10y agoFor residential installs, solar systems go up on roofs, a few kilowatts at a time. The main risk is to the installers (they fall off). Little capacity per roof, every roof different, every fall a potential hazard = higher risk per kilowatt than you might think..
- Aelinsaar 10y agoI suppose so, but it's a risk that can be managed with existing technology, and without spending insane amounts of money.
- mschuster91 10y ago> The main risk is to the installers (they fall off). Huge NO. The biggest risk is for firefighters if any part of the PV panel or the technology or the roof itself catch fire! The DC side can easily pack in a couple hundred volts DC with double-digit amperages. And you can't turn it off unless the sun goes dark... not to mention that it's hard for firefighters to fight a fire if the whole roof is PV-panel-filled and something in the roof is burning.