Comment on Solar panels for surveillance but none for affordable power
gandalf_der_13te@feddit.org 1 day agoWe already have vast plots of land being taken up by parking lots and buildings. There is a hospital in my area that put solar panels over the parking lot. It is really nice. Your car interior stays cooler. Many buildings have their AC cooling fans on the roof. Solar panels would also shade those and help make them more efficient. All of these areas already have a hookup to the grid. Substation may need to be modified but it isn’t as dramatic as you make it sound.
yeah but check the economics. climbing on roofs to install 3 m² of solar panels is just not worth it. the total cost of the system is not just the cost of solar panels + land area, but rather solar panels + land area + installation workers cost. and installation work costs significantly more on a roof than on a flat plain area, which is why the plain land is cheaper overall.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 day ago
People seem to underestimate the scale of utility level solar installations and the space they need, and the economies of scale you get with it.
Like absolutely when it makes sense cover a parking lot, put it on roofs etc, but if you can access a field with the right conditions it’ll be more cost effective.
You also left off things like permitting. You can permit 1 big field, or dozens / hundreds of parking lots. One field will be easier.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Also, that field can benefit from the shade if the solar is built right