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There is a lot more unusable arid land in the mountain west than there are warehouse rooftops. Adding bulk commodity ground mount PV to some portions of eastern

There is a lot more unusable arid land in the mountain west than there are warehouse rooftops. Adding bulk commodity ground mount PV to some portions of eastern WA where there is neither ranchland/grazing or irrigrated crop would go pretty far, in addition to the already existing massive hydroelectric dams. Look at the already government owned land around the Idaho National Lab in south/eastern Idaho for similar. Massive scale ground mount PV on otherwise unusable already government-controlled land is less costly and faster to deploy than putting things on roofs. People who live in the eastern or central US states and have never spent a lot of time driving around rural areas of the "Mountain west" may also not fully appreciate how much land is not owned by any one specific person or corporation, but is already owned/controlled by either the BLM or by an individual state such as the WA Department of Natural Resources. This is very alien to how rural land ownership exists in eastern US states. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhadla_Solar_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhadla_Solar_Park

wedn3sday 3y ago
I think one advantage to putting the solar cells on warehouses is that the generation is much closer to where it gets used, reducing both infrastructure costs as well as transmission loss.
- walrus01 3y ago
  True, but it also introduces new relationship/contractual/long term problems like having a whole legal team engage with whoever owns the buildings of dozens or hundreds of Home Depots or Walmarts for a 3rd party warehouse-roof-size PV installation. And eventual need for periodic repair/replacement of the underlying roof.
justinator 3y ago
>There is a lot more unusable arid land in the mountain west than there are warehouse rooftops. What a very human-centric point of view
- walrus01 3y ago
  Building a hydroelectric dam and flooding some habitat or burning conventional fuels in a traditional power plant to drive a turbine coupled to a generator with atmospheric exhaust are also very human centric points of view, exactly what is your point? In Google Earth satellite view, go find the entire plateau of dry land wheat farming (non irrigated) on the masive plateau surrounding Waterville, WA. We have already significantly modified the desert environment there for other purposes. Look at all the square areas of wheat farming. Go find "Atomic City, ID" in a satellite view and look at the desert brush land surrounding it for an area that's so arid that humans haven't even tried to irrigate it or do something like dry land wheat farming.
  - MikeKusold 3y ago
    > Building a hydroelectric dam and flooding some habitat There has been a large movement that has been working towards tearing these down due to their ecological impact. Additionally, Lake Mead has a risk of the water level falling too low and stopping power generation at Hoover Dam. Some concerns that solar plants could have on wildlife are: - Increased human presence in areas that previously were not frequented - Maintenance roads will need to be built - Migration corridors could be severed, leading to less genetic diversity in an area - Unknown impact on wildlife. For example, maybe the solar panels make it difficult for local hawks to hunt. As of 2021, scientists have generally agreed that more studies are needed to determine this. [0] [0]: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-11/Solar%20Impacts%20on%20Wildlife%20and%20Ecosystems%20Request%20for%20Information%20Summary.pdf https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-11/Solar%20I...
- maxk42 3y ago
  Were you planning to build solar panels for the wildlife?
  - justinator 3y ago
    I certainly can't talk for the wildlife, but I would guess they would want to not lose their habitat.
GauntletWizard 3y ago
Building suitable anchoring is expensive. Warehouse rooftops need little retrofitting or additional margin to add solar panels, especially on new construction. It's a nice example of synergy, the real kind and not the buzzword kind.

wedn3sday 3y ago

I think one advantage to putting the solar cells on warehouses is that the generation is much closer to where it gets used, reducing both infrastructure costs as well as transmission loss.

walrus01 3y ago
True, but it also introduces new relationship/contractual/long term problems like having a whole legal team engage with whoever owns the buildings of dozens or hundreds of Home Depots or Walmarts for a 3rd party warehouse-roof-size PV installation. And eventual need for periodic repair/replacement of the underlying roof.

justinator 3y ago

>There is a lot more unusable arid land in the mountain west than there are warehouse rooftops. What a very human-centric point of view

walrus01 3y ago
Building a hydroelectric dam and flooding some habitat or burning conventional fuels in a traditional power plant to drive a turbine coupled to a generator with atmospheric exhaust are also very human centric points of view, exactly what is your point? In Google Earth satellite view, go find the entire plateau of dry land wheat farming (non irrigated) on the masive plateau surrounding Waterville, WA. We have already significantly modified the desert environment there for other purposes. Look at all the square areas of wheat farming. Go find "Atomic City, ID" in a satellite view and look at the desert brush land surrounding it for an area that's so arid that humans haven't even tried to irrigate it or do something like dry land wheat farming.
- MikeKusold 3y ago
  > Building a hydroelectric dam and flooding some habitat There has been a large movement that has been working towards tearing these down due to their ecological impact. Additionally, Lake Mead has a risk of the water level falling too low and stopping power generation at Hoover Dam. Some concerns that solar plants could have on wildlife are: - Increased human presence in areas that previously were not frequented - Maintenance roads will need to be built - Migration corridors could be severed, leading to less genetic diversity in an area - Unknown impact on wildlife. For example, maybe the solar panels make it difficult for local hawks to hunt. As of 2021, scientists have generally agreed that more studies are needed to determine this. [0] [0]: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-11/Solar%20Impacts%20on%20Wildlife%20and%20Ecosystems%20Request%20for%20Information%20Summary.pdf https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-11/Solar%20I...
maxk42 3y ago
Were you planning to build solar panels for the wildlife?
- justinator 3y ago
  I certainly can't talk for the wildlife, but I would guess they would want to not lose their habitat.

GauntletWizard 3y ago

Building suitable anchoring is expensive. Warehouse rooftops need little retrofitting or additional margin to add solar panels, especially on new construction. It's a nice example of synergy, the real kind and not the buzzword kind.