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[edit: if you're joking, good -- ignore my reply] It's a desert. There's arguably less biodiversity there than most places. I'm pretty sure there's enough room
by xp84 3y ago
[edit: if you're joking, good -- ignore my reply]
It's a desert. There's arguably less biodiversity there than most places. I'm pretty sure there's enough room for there to still be plenty of cactuses and jackrabbits AND a massive amount of solar panels.
Rooftop and parking lot solar isn't the same thing. It's not automatically better. The efficiency of rooftop solar isn't nearly as good as an array that can follow the sun. Given finite resources you could make a case we're better off deploying those panels in a desert and connecting a big fat cable to them vs. a million houses all paying individual installers to install tiny, inefficient arrays piecemeal.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- petee 3y agoThe desert is teeming with life under the crust, and panels can disturb or destroy that. We've learned the hard way to not just rush in thinking we know what's best for the land, since we've destroyed so much already. I thought it was well established that desert panels have to be cleaned constantly, and use huge amounts of water; without data im assuming that'll cost more than whatever efficiency gain you get from tracking panels verses non. And parking lots just make sense -- lots store heat, cars get blistering, and solar gives power and shade...its a win win all day. A decently balanced article on diversity in the Mojave -- https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-06-27/solar-panels-could-save-california-but-they-hurt-the-desert https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-06-27/solar-p...
- jasonjei 3y agoBut climate change will disturb all ecosystems. If solar panels help mitigate, I think it’s a small price to pay at the risk of messing with desert ecosystems.
- tstrimple 3y agoI also feel like I'm taking crazy pills. > "Global climate change will have far reaching impacts and change ecosystems across the world!" > "Yeah, but solar panels will impact the ecosystem of this local desert so no." > "You realize the local desert is also part of the global ecosystem will be impacted by climate change right? Right?..."
- stvltvs 3y agoI have high hopes that we can provide enough energy by using already disturbed land without sacrificing our irreplaceable natural heritage.
- CyberDildonics 3y agoWhich parts of these 22 million acres are "our irreplaceable natural heritage" ? What specifically do you think solar panels will even hurt and why? "Under the current policy, there are at least 80 million acres of federal lands open to oil and gas development, which is 100 times the amount of public land available for solar." I have high hopes that we can provide enough energy by using already disturbed land Based on what? This is enough land to power every house in the US with solar if it was all used. It's interesting that even though crops are grown under solar panels all the time, you are worried about empty unused land and not the land already being used for oil and gas or the fact that 60% of all electricity still comes from fossil fuels in the US. https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3 https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3
- otherme123 3y agoSun trackers are not free, and nowadays it's cheaper to offset the losses of a rooftop with more panels than to buy a tracker. Also dessert is not particularly good for panels. A panel could reach 70-80°C in such environment, when its optimal is at 25°C. Will lose around 25% efficiency.