The Future of Renewable Energy: Tier List

[Tonguez]

So putting solar panels on roads isn’t the great idea…what we have learned from the solar roadways project and some other tests, it can make the roads slick and negate traction, it beats up the panels, and when cars are driving on them..you don’t get power.

If your going urban, far better to put them on top of buildings and parking garages.

Solar windows cut emissions and energy use by 40% in glass skyscrapers

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory modeled the benefits of PV in highly glazed skyscrapers.

pv-magazine-usa.com

 

[Umbran]

This is an option though trickier than it can appear at first glance. Solar panels still need connections to the power grid, maintenance, cleaning, etc. it is easier to do those things in a nice long flat consistent piece of land than the varied nuances of an urban landscape.

In an urban landscape, you connect the solar panels to the building, as the building is already connected to the power grid.

It’s always a nice augment but it’s unlikely going to be the mainstay power. It’s just simplier to add more panels to a large scale farm out in the middle of nowhere and ship the power (modern power lines really don’t lose that much energy when shipping power around)

I live in suburbia. Putting solar panels on homes is a Big Thing these days.

 

[RealAlHazred]

[EDIT - Joke post deleted, I got around to reading people's posts and they're actually really good.]

I agree tidal power is pretty bad. However, power needs seem to always rise to meet supply. I'd like to see a pilot study of tidal energy stations first-hand before dismissing it.

 

[Stalker0]

I live in suburbia. Putting solar panels on homes is a Big Thing these days.

I’m not saying putting panels on home is a terrible idea, it’s just unlikely to be anything more than an augment. Your still going to need solar farms to get to the big numbers. So yeah feel free to do that, it’s just not going to get you all the way

 

[Stalker0]

[EDIT - Joke post deleted, I got around to reading people's posts and they're actually really good.]

I agree tidal power is pretty bad. However, power needs seem to always rise to meet supply. I'd like to see a pilot study of tidal energy stations first-hand before dismissing it.

What is so hilarious about tidal is you really don’t. Physicists have looked at the therotical numbers for tidal, which of course are ideal numbers you’ll never get in real life. And under those conditions…just terrible. Solar already blows it away. That is the whole point of theory, when theory tells you something is garbage, you don’t even bother trying it

 

[Tonguez]

I’m not saying putting panels on home is a terrible idea, it’s just unlikely to be anything more than an augment. Your still going to need solar farms to get to the big numbers. So yeah feel free to do that, it’s just not going to get you all the way

A couple of solar panels can provide enough power for household or two - thus if every house has panels then you can generate enough for your neighbour without relying on the grid.
big farms will be needed for industrial use but then industry ought to have a bigger footprint anyway. its only a problem when domestic footprint is the same as a industry

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I’m not saying putting panels on home is a terrible idea, it’s just unlikely to be anything more than an augment. Your still going to need solar farms to get to the big numbers. So yeah feel free to do that, it’s just not going to get you all the way

You quote the wrong person.


Also, you seem to be missing that the city being powered can be the farm.

And like, you know that one thing doesn’t have to provide 100% of the power in order to be worthwhile, right?

 

[Zardnaar]

You quote the wrong person.


Also, you seem to be missing that the city being powered can be the farm.

And like, you know that one thing doesn’t have to provide 100% of the power in order to be worthwhile, right?

The way they're kinda explaining it here is solar is like a battery. Well the hydro lakes are the battery that stores the energy.

Solar can reduce demand so in daylight the solar panels on a house do their thing. Reduces pressure on hydro.

At night you use the hydro power.

82% electric comes from renewables.

 

[Umbran]

This is largely irrelevant when discussion city-wide power grid infrastructure, rather than the powering of a single (not super common) building.

Oh, no, it isn't irrelevant. The city buildings are, by and large... large, and typically used for urban, power-intensive things. I mean, sure, put solar panels on them - it doesn't hurt. But in terms of prioritizing, aiming solar for suburbs and rural areas is more bang for the buck, because the panels can provide a greater proportion of the power needs.

They do have vast swathes of exposed roadway and parking lots.

Solar paving is a boondoggle at this time. So, you are talking about putting up roofs over the roads, and putting solar panels on them. That's new construction, which is very costly compared to slapping panels on extant buildings.

Given that we can't keep basic bridges in repair, what makes you think we will have the wherewithal to maintain miles and miles and miles of public roadway roofing?

And the advantage goes to city solar in terms of ecological impact, as well, as exposed asphalt and concrete causes cities to be dramatically hotter than surrounding countryside, while covering a desert in panels would inevitably cause massive damage to the desert ecology.

Um... solar panels are typically black, and are only about 20% efficient. The rest of the light, then, gets turned into heat - a solar panel can get up to 150F in the summertime - which will radiate into the air. So, solar panels won't help the heat island issue all that much.

Indeed, large scale solar installations can create heat island issues: Researchers discover solar heat island effect caused by large-scale solar power plants

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Oh, no, it isn't irrelevant. The city buildings are, by and large... large, and typically used for urban, power-intensive things. I mean, sure, put solar panels on them - it doesn't hurt. But in terms of prioritizing, aiming solar for suburbs and rural areas is more bang for the buck, because the panels can provide a greater proportion of the power needs.

There are vastly more small buildings than large in a city, even if we ignore the wild pedantry of pretending that suburbs aren't part of cities.

Also, many of those large buildings are vastly more wide than tall, and a huge amount of the rest are commercial buildings with significant parking lots. In my own city, new commercial buildings have to have a minimum amount of parking spaces based on the size and capacity of the storefront.

And of course, ya know, all the roads. Sure, some towns line most of their streets with trees, but there are miles upon miles of exposed asphalt in the majority of cities.

Solar paving is a boondoggle at this time.

Absolutely no serious adult person in this year of the common era two thousand and twenty two is bringing up solar paving in a serious discussion about power infrastructure, Umbran.

So, you are talking about putting up roofs over the roads, and putting solar panels on them. That's new construction, which is very costly compared to slapping panels on extant buildings.

Every serious solution to the problems with power production is expensive.

Given that we can't keep basic bridges in repair, what makes you think we will have the wherewithal to maintain miles and miles and miles of public roadway roofing?

This is myopic, and I will not engage with that sort of mindset. "Things don't work because people suck" is not a valid position in a discussion. Ever.

By this logic, we should never have built large scale electrical infrastructure, highways, or railroads.

Um... solar panels are typically black, and are only about 20% efficient. The rest of the light, then, gets turned into heat - a solar panel can get up to 150F in the summertime - which will radiate into the air. So, solar panels won't help the heat island issue all that much.

The shade to asphalt outweighs it, from all I've read. Again, we're talking about canopies with panels on them over parking lots (which get extremely hot) and panels on top of...already black roofing.

Indeed, large scale solar installations can create heat island issues: Researchers discover solar heat island effect caused by large-scale solar power plants

Oh, solar farms in deserts and other flat land create more ambient heat than exposed earth? Shocking!