Oye...solar power plant....good vs bad...

[Joe Bob]

550MW (AC) Desert Sunlight Solar Farm | First Solar


So tell me your opinions of the good and bad of this.....I'll reserve comment until an idiot responds.

[id10t]

I know not of the solar power... why you need my response?

Possibly good on limited scale for small population spots away from everything else, but running lines, maintaining them, etc. plus the maintaining of the panels, etc. gonna make the electricity it produces expensive...

[porwolf]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of this type of solar plants?

The Good:
It is a great way to capture free energy from the sun that lasts forever without depletion for millions of years. It is a clean operation when installed.

The Bad:
It does not supply enough energy for our wasteful ways of energy consumption. We use twice as much energy per capita, as for instance the German population with basically similar life styles.

The Ugly:
It involves the destruction of another bigt swath natural land.

[Bill Douglas]

It would be nice if it works, and definetly the way of the future.

[vash]

how much land is that gonna eat up?

wouldnt there be the same net effect if we put the solar panels on the actual homes?

[RWebb]

the good is producing power domestically, and w/o CO2 and other emissions (SO2, NOx, particulates, mercury for coal plants, and on and on) + jobs provided to build it, maintain (less than coal or likely even gas) & some R&D benefits

for the bad, read the Env'l Impact Stmt which the govt. is required to send you - you can ask for all comments from the public also
then ask the Feds for the End. Species Act consultation docs & comments on that
(is this a desert tortoise area??)

I can tell you that some will be the alteration of the env. for animals (and plants) living there from the plant itself and it transmission lines and roads for construction & maint.

There are always some impacts -- even if you walk somewhere and take a photo...

There is no free lunch, but if you work at it, you can find a tasty and nutritious meal for a very reasonable price...

[Joe Bob]

Hmmmm, BLM land in the middle of F'n nowhere...even the indians don't want it......50+
miles between 'Blythe and Indio'......no spotted owls.......carpet the whole thing with solar panels.....

I'm trying to see any bad things....

As to "Vash" comment.....I agree ...every new home should have a roof that produced energy......

[Flieger]

Unless there is a mass extinction of people or we stop using electricity we will need to have all the clean energy sources we can practically manage. The solar panels have to go somewhere. Desert sounds like a good place to me.

[Joe Bob]

Ummmm....I'm having a hard time finding stories about bad panels or the need to recycle them. The rumor is, they have a reduced effeciency but keep producing power for a LONG time.

But I'll wait until Sammy chimes in......

[Flieger]

Their efficiency is still pretty low but the power is free (sunlight) so that makes up for it. Main problem with them being in the desert is dust cutting down on the light reaching the panels.

[Buckterrier]

I like solar power. I just installed a panel in MarkPark

[island911]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Hmmmm, BLM land in the middle of F'n nowhere...even the indians don't want it......50+
miles between 'Blythe and Indio'......no spotted owls.......carpet the whole thing with solar panels.....

I'm trying to see any bad things....
....

then you're not trying very hard.

My guess is that you don't want to know the down-side.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

...every new home should have a roof that produced energy......

still a spendy initial cost, but many do this

one nice thing is that you avoid transmission losses, and have some emergency power for various grid failures

[David]

If it wasn't for cheap natural gas I bet many people would be looking to put PV cells on their house roof. As the PV technology gets better, it'll still happen. Give it about 20 years.

[Jim727]

The web pages are clipped, so I haven't been able to get a good read on the article, but...

Rooftop (plus use of freeway medians, etc.) is excellent; multiple use of existing space, distributable collection, production of energy is near the consumption point. Excess production can be pumped back into the grid network for use elsewhere.

The problem with rooftop collectors is that they don't necessarily funnel the current through a billable point and therefore have an inherent conflict with the interests of utility companies. Any excess production from one rooftop might easily be consumed by the house next door. Large scale rooftop generation would ultimately result in large power plants providing power where rooftop power is unavailable (nighttime, unsuitable geography, etc.).

Then there's the energy consumption and pollution generated in producing the panels. Need numbers on that.

[RWebb]

speaking of the grid....





rooftop solar mitigates many of these problems

[gtc]

550MW is a crap ton of power, and there's basically nothing out there but lizards, so I say go for it.

[Jim727]

Interesting. Solar storms don't appear to be represented in the chart.

Cyber attack is an issue that could be mitigated if we'd spend the money to secure the connected/embedded systems. Yeah....

[daepp]

Desert Center is THE most desolate spot in So Cal.

[Joe Bob]

I'm asking opinions for my Master's thesis.....

My issue is how to control emissions of criteria air pollutants, maximize electrical output and reduce use of water......I have my outline but I need to hear from the peanut gallery. Outside the box opinions have a tendency to up publishing rates.

You'll get an attaboy if you get quoted.