Oregon approved to build one of the biggest solar plants in the US

[axiomatic13]

Welcome to more global warming. Don’t believe? Try standing in the middle of a solar farm in the middle of a sunny day and experience how hot it gets there. Black solar panels absorb heat, not reflect the heat back.

You have it 100% backwards. If the world is getting hotter, solar panels help cool critical water infrastructure. Solar panels built over water canals seem like a no-brainer. So why aren’t they widespread?

 

[ThomasTECH]

I can hear the money from the oil companies jingling in your pocket

I wish you were right! I need some oil money. But seriously if Solar were any good at all I would be the first to say it. It's not even truly solar even the name is deceptive.

 

[axiomatic13]

I wish you were right! I need some oil money. But seriously if Solar were any good at all I would be the first to say it. It's not even truly solar even the name is deceptive.

Do you have solar on your roof? I do, and when I move, I will do it again.

 

[bandit8623]

Not really; the profits on non-factor farms are already razor thin in the best of times, to the point where most have outright collapsed. So selling the land to use as a solar farm is several orders of magnitude more profit for the landowners.

I also agree that massive solar installations, while effective, are also inefficient from an energy generation per area perspective; it's one reason why I would personally mandate solar installation be required for all new building constructions going forward, in order to reduce the need for massive installations over the long haul.

its not about the money to be made. the problem is its good land. that needs to stay good land. I can guarantee they arent placing these in state parks... my point is there much better places to put solar panels. like on roofs

 

[gamerk2]

its not about the money to be made. the problem is its good land. that needs to stay good land. I can guarantee they arent placing these in state parks... my point is there much better places to put solar panels. like on roofs

Right, but as a private landowner, if you farm is basically breaking even (or even running at a loss, like many are), and the solar industry/state comes knocking, are you going to say no?

But yes, I agree with solar installations on roofs (to the point I'd make them mandatory).

 

[toooooot]

How much water will it use each year?
Will the panels be made locally or in China?

 

[Endymio]

You have it 100% backwards. If the world is getting hotter, solar panels help cool critical water infrastructure. Solar panels built over water canals seem like a no-brainer. So why aren’t they widespread?

No, he's correct; you have it backwards. Solar panels -- like asphalt road networks and black-tarred roofs -- lower the earth's albedo, and work to increase surface temperatures. If you're shaded directly underneath a solar panel, you may experience a lower local temperature ... but the heat absorbed by the panel itself doesn't' magically vanish. It's radiated as LWIR into the lower atmosphere.

That said, the overall effect is trivial -- unless we're talking about covering entire deserts with solar arrays.

 

[Endymio]

...Oregon is building a solar power plant that will provide 1.2 gigawatts of solar energy...enough emissions-free electricity for around 800,000 homes annually.

Falsehoods like this are one of the reasons people distrust the hawkers of green energy. 1.2GW will indeed power 800,000 homes -- but that's the peak output of the array. Even the best solar sites in Arizona generally have about a 33% capacity factor, and I would be surprised if this Oregon location exceeds 25%, meaning it'll actually only power a quarter as many homes ... at quadruple the stated cost.

 

[lonetac]

Funny that nobody has yet asked who will be supplying the panels. China? So all those dollars will be going to our adversaries. Yeah!

you realize how much chinese stuff we consume in this country?

The whole good vs evil is just platitude and oversimplification from folks who dont understand world politics.

 

[Revolution 11]

As long as they place these I places that cant be used for other purposes. here in minnesota I see them over a farm field... what a waste.

Is it really? The farmer decided to put up solar instead of farming because it was more money in his pocket. This is a capitalist country, man can do what he wishes with his land.

(Ignoring the fact that some livestock can still graze on solar farms, like sheep and goats).

 

[Endymio]

you realize how much chinese stuff we consume in this country?

The whole good vs evil is just platitude and oversimplification from folks who dont understand world politics.

So calling it evil to place three million of your own citizens in slave-labor genocide camps is nothing but "platitudes and oversimplification"?

Is it really? The farmer decided to put up solar instead of farming because it was more money in his pocket. This is a capitalist country....

The money paid the farmer didn't come from free-market capitalism; it derived from a socialistic system of taxpayer-funded subsidies. Covering prime arable farmland with solar cells isn't very bright, no matter how you slice it. Chlorophyll-based plants are themselves a cheap and highly efficient solar array, converting the sun's rays into caloric energy.

 

[wiyosaya]

I'm not an expert in this area but technically I think the black solar panels absorb light (as in sunlight) with some of it being converted to the heat you feel. The solar panels work off of light rather than heat.

Seems a few posts are confusing this project with the solar farms that gather sunlight with mirrors and focus it on a tower to boil water. Can't fix, well, you know.

 

[wiyosaya]

Nuclear Baby!!

Pop quiz. What blue state is investing in new Nuclear plants?

 

[wiyosaya]

The money paid the farmer didn't come from free-market capitalism; it derived from a socialistic system of taxpayer-funded subsidies.

Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!

 

[Endymio]

I'm not an expert in this area but technically I think the black solar panels absorb light (as in sunlight) with some of it being converted to the heat you feel. The solar panels work off of light rather than heat.

If an object -- be it a solar panel or anything else -- has a 5% albedo, then 95% of solar energy incident on it is absorbed and eventually later radiated as heat .

If the object in question is a solar panel with 15% efficiency, then 15% of the absorbed energy isn't immediately converted to heat, but rather to electricity. However, when that electricity is used, it then becomes heat. You can't beat the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

 

[ThomasTECH]

Do you have solar on your roof? I do, and when I move, I will do it again.

Panel Tech on your roof is considered a special project and is not-grid related. It is a welcome reduction on grid dependency and effective backup power. It does not mean large scale land consuming, low output panel farms are a good idea which is the topic of this thread.

 

[lonetac]

So calling it evil to place three million of your own citizens in slave-labor genocide camps is nothing but "platitudes and oversimplification"?

Yes, it is.
It is egregiously hypocritical to sit here and call China evil while dismissing what happens in the USA. We have prison populations used as slave labor. We kill innocent people with our terrorist bombings every day in the interest of profit. We let 10s of 1000s of people die by denying insurance claims and commiting mass murder in the name of profit. By definition, we are evil as well.

Not everyone is racist against China simply because they are Chinese.

Simply put, Americans consume Chinese goods.

Thinking a country is inherently evil shows a complete lack of emotional intelligence and understanding populations as whole.

Chinese people are no different than you and I. Wanting to raise families, pursue happiness and live their lives. They are not evil.

 

[wiyosaya]

If an object -- be it a solar panel or anything else -- has a 5% albedo, then 95% of solar energy incident on it is absorbed and eventually later radiated as heat .

If the object in question is a solar panel with 15% efficiency, then 15% of the absorbed energy isn't immediately converted to heat, but rather to electricity. However, when that electricity is used, it then becomes heat. You can't beat the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

All those words for something previously said to be trivial.

Perhaps Oregon would welcome your expertise.

 

[Endymio]

All those words for something previously said to be trivial.

You missed a rather important caveat: trivial unless we're discussing powering entire continents with solar farms.