Why don't we cover the desert with solar panels? - Dan Kwartler

[Uncle Joe]

[Omnipresent]

1. Wouldn't there be amperage drop...

Of power, over the distance it would take to reach some areas?

[Uncle Joe]

2. I believe the video

addresses that issue as well.

[kirkuchiyo]

7. Technically it would be a voltage drop

due to line resistance but the effect of that would be a drop in current transmitted.

[PSPS]

8. That can (and has been) reduced by stepping up the voltage.

The same power can be supplied by raising the voltage which reduces the required amperage.
Power = Volts X Amps

But having big centralized power farms is a bad idea. It provides a single point of failure. These would be better deployed closer to where the power is consumed -- in/near a city, at the structure being powered, etc. In other words, pick the closest suitable location with optimum sun exposure and let it supply that area.

[abqtommy]

3. Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner! Of course there are deserts everywhere in

the world, including much of the western United States. Let's go for it.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Well

this video is not a total argument for it.

I thought it was a balanced view on the pros and cons of solar.

[msongs]

5. one reads that panels are less effective in high heat areas nt

[Uncle Joe]

6. That's correct, they can get too hot. n/t

[mackdaddy]

9. Why don't we just cover our roofs with Solar Panels?

The Roof is right above our head, and like a little piece of desert. Ever worked up there in full sunlight?

Anyhow, then the power is generated right where it is needed in a blank space we already have created without any major additional changes to the habitat that covering deserts would. And the panels actually shade the roof and cool off the house.

I have a 10kw grid tied array and I have do not have a power bill 9 months of the year, and have an all electric home. I send power to the grid in the summer, and buy some during the winter to run my heat pump. Going on the 9th year of operation with no maintenance.

So local solar works great. Just not so much for the big utility companies making big profits from central generators.

[in2herbs]

10. Haven't watched video but have had a solar system for 10+ years so I want to add

my two cents that may not be in video regarding residential solar.

Putting solar on roof requires that the roof be structurally sound to handle the weight. When solar is on the roof and the roof needs to be replaced you will have to pay the solar people to come out and remove the solar from the roof until the new roof is completed, then you will have to pay the solar people to come out and re-install the solar on the roof.

If you anticipate making a "profit" by selling the excess solar energy that you don't use back to the electrical company's grid you will have to install more panels than is estimated. The solar companies estimate low to make a sell, not for you to make a profit.

Unless you install a BUSS system (back up solar system) you will still be without power just like everyone else without solar if the electrical provider has a power interruption.

IMO the best type of solar system is one that is on concrete pillars with panels mounted on the pillars about 5' off the ground that track with the sun. Tracking gives you more hours of solar so more hours of electricity to sell back to electric company. IMO this is also the type of system that should be installed on solar farms. Roof top and ground solar panels are stationary so the amount of sunlight required to power electricity to make a viable investment must be carefully considered when placing the panels.

It is true that the hotter the temp the less solar energy produced. I live in AZ and my summer profit is less than at other times of the year but when looking at a whole year of solar production, while the summer is not as profitable because of the 24-hour use of the AC, the rest of the year is, so I would say it averages out over a year's period to a handsome profit. I have 2 or 3 months a year that I pay nothing for electricity, and 1 or 2 months that I pay less than $30/month -- and that is for a big house with 3 AC units (heat pumps), and 3 refrigerators.

The choice to go solar was made for the benefit of the environment, not for financial gain because that's another cost. When my solar panels will have to be replaced (as everything breaks down eventually) at today's cost it will cost me $35,000 to replace the panels. I am hoping that invention will be bringing this cost down when I need it.

[hunter]

11. So, we had to destroy the world in order to save it?

I'm a radical environmentalist who opposes all development of previously undeveloped land, and the restoration and rewilding of many developed lands.

Desert solar development is obscene and won't save the world.

At this point in time large scale solar projects only increase our long term dependence on natural gas.