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>Locally-generated solar electric power to charge the batteries is also easier in a farm environment, and makes direct financial sense. Doesn't that run into t
by saint_fiasco 10y ago
>Locally-generated solar electric power to charge the batteries is also easier in a farm environment, and makes direct financial sense.
Doesn't that run into the same problem as biofuels? In a farm, most places where you could put a solar panel are also places where you could be growing more food.
- nasmorn 10y agoNo because solar panels produce at least an order of magnitude more power per area than biofuels. Maybe even two
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- antisthenes 10y agoYou could put solar panels in the space between irrigation circles. It won't be enough for a utility solar power planet, but certainly will be to charge 1-2 tractors.
- nine_k 10y agoYou can't easily grow crops on your barns' rooftops. It's a great place for your solar panels, though.
- samatman 10y agoTo add to the sibling answers, crop rotation is a basic part of land management on farms. Solar panels could be rotated between fields, undercropped with shade-tolerant legumes.
- Obi_Juan_Kenobi 10y agoNo, the issue with biofuels was the feedstock; it was directly competing with food crops for quality arable land. Alternative feedstocks like Miscanthus don't have this issue, and neither does solar. It can use marginal land that is not otherwise profitable to farm.