4 ms·

> Re cleaning, they have a cute little robot Ever cleaned dried bird droppings off a windshield? I'd be pretty surprised if solar-farm Roomba was up to it.

geysersam 4y ago
Any solar installation will face that problem though
- Maursault 4y ago
  My point only concerned the robot. Other solar installations won't have a tiny self-driving Zamboni that's ineffective at cleaning bird poo and is bound to be stolen. They use renewable and cost-effective elbow grease instead.
  - pulvinar 4y ago
    I can't see how bird poo could be a problem here: there's no food, nesting site, nor high spot to hang out anywhere near it. Theft could be a problem, though I'd assume they'd have some sort of protection hidden on it.
  - ClumsyPilot 4y ago
    > won't have a tiny self-driving Zamboni that's ineffective at cleaning bird poo and is bound to be stolen Why do you think it's ineffective, they could have a pressure washer inside that thing
    - Maursault 4y ago
      > Why do you think it's ineffective, It appears too small to have enough mass to use gravity to be able to do a thing with dried guano. Also, because it has wheels, it gives me the impression that it moves along and does whatever cleaning its capable of as it goes rather than lingering anywhere to thoroughly clean one spot. > they could have a pressure washer inside that thing How big of a water tank do you think?
  - mgerdts 4y ago
    The solution here seems to create a zone that is completely inhospitable to the ecosystem that should exist in that spot. In the picture in the article, the bird poop will be highly concentrated in the forest area that is nearby. While there will be some birds that fly over this dead zone, I bet the droppings will be minimal. Edit: The article mentions a 100 MW installation. At 2.5 acres per MW, that is 40 acres or 0.25 miles x 0.25 miles. While there will certainly be some service roads, no matter what the ecosystem was before, it will be covered with something that doesn't support plant material, insects, etc. that may be consumed directly by birds or the small animals upon which birds prey. Birds will find a more hospitable place to poop.
kragen 4y ago
maybe use a little potassium carbonate to convert the uric acid in the bird shit to dipotassium urate, thus increasing its water-solubility 300×, and follow up with a strong buffer that's mildly acidic like monopotassium phosphate to prevent any stray residues from the solution from causing alkali corrosion of the glass when it dries probably there are a lot of possibilities you haven't tried on your windshield yet
- rkagerer 4y ago
  Why is that not sold as a specific bird droppings cleaning product yet?
  - kragen 4y ago
    i don't think i've ever seen a specific bird shit cleaning product of any kind, much less one specifically for glass
mrcartmeneses 4y ago
Shouldn’t matter in the grand scheme and it will probably be clean after 5-6 passes

geysersam 4y ago

Any solar installation will face that problem though

Maursault 4y ago
My point only concerned the robot. Other solar installations won't have a tiny self-driving Zamboni that's ineffective at cleaning bird poo and is bound to be stolen. They use renewable and cost-effective elbow grease instead.
- pulvinar 4y ago
  I can't see how bird poo could be a problem here: there's no food, nesting site, nor high spot to hang out anywhere near it. Theft could be a problem, though I'd assume they'd have some sort of protection hidden on it.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  > won't have a tiny self-driving Zamboni that's ineffective at cleaning bird poo and is bound to be stolen Why do you think it's ineffective, they could have a pressure washer inside that thing
  - Maursault 4y ago
    > Why do you think it's ineffective, It appears too small to have enough mass to use gravity to be able to do a thing with dried guano. Also, because it has wheels, it gives me the impression that it moves along and does whatever cleaning its capable of as it goes rather than lingering anywhere to thoroughly clean one spot. > they could have a pressure washer inside that thing How big of a water tank do you think?
- mgerdts 4y ago
  The solution here seems to create a zone that is completely inhospitable to the ecosystem that should exist in that spot. In the picture in the article, the bird poop will be highly concentrated in the forest area that is nearby. While there will be some birds that fly over this dead zone, I bet the droppings will be minimal. Edit: The article mentions a 100 MW installation. At 2.5 acres per MW, that is 40 acres or 0.25 miles x 0.25 miles. While there will certainly be some service roads, no matter what the ecosystem was before, it will be covered with something that doesn't support plant material, insects, etc. that may be consumed directly by birds or the small animals upon which birds prey. Birds will find a more hospitable place to poop.

kragen 4y ago

maybe use a little potassium carbonate to convert the uric acid in the bird shit to dipotassium urate, thus increasing its water-solubility 300×, and follow up with a strong buffer that's mildly acidic like monopotassium phosphate to prevent any stray residues from the solution from causing alkali corrosion of the glass when it dries probably there are a lot of possibilities you haven't tried on your windshield yet

rkagerer 4y ago
Why is that not sold as a specific bird droppings cleaning product yet?
- kragen 4y ago
  i don't think i've ever seen a specific bird shit cleaning product of any kind, much less one specifically for glass

mrcartmeneses 4y ago

Shouldn’t matter in the grand scheme and it will probably be clean after 5-6 passes