Re:More energy on less land: The drive to shrink solar’s foo...
by mech987 on Monday August 15, 2022 @08:38AM
(#32468890)
Is PV at the same land use as coal currently on a per-watt basis or on a total land use basis?
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Re:More energy on less land: The drive to shrink solar’s foo...
by ZeroGravitas on Monday August 15, 2022 @09:00AM
(#32469128)
They link to this, which has a table at the top:
https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-per-energy-source
I'd assume coal uses much more land in absolute terms, since it's what 50% of global electricity vs 3-5% for solar at the moment.
Re:More energy on less land: The drive to shrink solar’s foo...
by ncmncm on Monday August 15, 2022 @08:42AM
(#32468934)
Since solar may use up exactly zero acres, its watts per acre may be infinite. Wind, also, coexists easily with other uses.
Solar farms are often sited, stupidly, in deserts, not because it is a good idea, but because ignorant investors think it is a good idea.
Re:More energy on less land: The drive to shrink solar’s foo...
by tbihl on Monday August 15, 2022 @09:11AM
(#32469209)
>Solar farms are often sited, stupidly, in deserts, not because it is a good idea, but because ignorant investors think it is a good idea.
Perhaps indulge our ignorance about deserts for a moment?
Re:More energy on less land: The drive to shrink solar’s foo...
by ncmncm on Monday August 15, 2022 @09:22AM
(#32469322)
Deserts are hot and dusty. Efficiency falls quickly as temperature rises, and more as dust accumulates. Panels degrade exponentially faster as peak temperature increases. (Precisely: each fixed increase in temperature doubles rate of degradation.)
Siting panels on water and on farmland reduces operating temperature. Mounting vertically, in fence-rows, keeps off dust, collects more during morning and afternoon demand peaks, aids convective cooling, and protects crops from harshest afternoon sun.