Solar

While I certainly welcome lower-cost solar panels, and would most certainly include solar power when I own my off-grid homestead, I am deeply concerned about the tens of thousands, and soon to be hundreds of thousands of acres of land being developed for industrial solar farms across the state. Information both on solar farms and smaller, more appropriate uses of solar technology.

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First solar farm may come to Guilderland

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First solar farm may come to Guilderland

While I've always thought roof top-solar pared to a household's or building's commercial load makes a lot of sense, I'm very cynical about utility-scale solar. Selling back excess power to grid is better then solar-controllers discarding it (as off grid houses do).

I think utility scale solar is mostly a nuisance to utility operators, putting mostly low-value power into the grid that is offset by running fossil power plants at a less efficient, lower speed. Even at peak times, utility solar has to be backed up by fossil-fired spinning reserve.

But my views are changing slightly on utility solar. Here's why. Solar farms have a practical lifespan of 20-30 years, and while they may be ugly, they are a light use of the land. Solar panels can crushed and hauled off to the landfill at end of their lifespan, with the aluminum frames, copper wire, and steel frames recovered as scrap. Once solar panels removed to the land, the parcels can be rededicated for purposes of agriculture or wildlife conservation.

In other words, utility solar conserves large parcels of lands for future generations, by only lightly developing the land. So it's not totally terrible idea. But a better investment is in roof-top solar, where solar can offset actual load on the grid, rather then feeding in low-value power into the grid.

Massive Solar Farm Planned For Selkirk.

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Massive Solar Farm Planned For Selkirk.

The 2002 750 MW Bethlehem Energy Center which replaced the 1952 Albany Stream Station in Glenmont sits on 83 acres of previously industrial land along the river.

A clean burning natural gas and fuel oil plant, it operates 24-7. It produces 94% less SO2, 90% less NOx and 36% less CO2 compared to Albany Steam Station.

http://www.powermag.com/bethlehem-energy-center-glenmont-new-york/?printmode=1

In contrast, this industrial solar project will be placed on 42-acres farm land and generate a theoretical 8 MW peak when its particularly sunny out. Most of the time it will produce much less then 8 MW peak output.

Assuming solar worked 24-7, they would need nearly 4,000 acres of land to produce as much nameplate power as the Bethlehem Energy Center produces.

Large solar farms are a taxpayer-funded scam. While roof-top solar helps offset energy use, and is quite desirable source of clean renewable energy, large solar farms should be disallowed and prohibited by law as just another form of sprawl.