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.
This gives you an idea of what a one-megawatt industrial solar facility looks like, this one down by the Selkrirk Railyard. That said, the 1,000 MW number is a bit misleading, as the 18.7% monthly capacity factor as the panels don't generate any electricity during the night and much less during the winter.
Solar panels are made up of solar cells which are diodes or silicon junctions or check valves that put out 0.5 to 0.6 volts each without load (open circuit). To charge a 12 volt battery, you put 10 solar cells in series to get roughly 20 volts which under load will drop down to closer to 15 volts.
Every solar cell is a diode and not only prevents the backwards flow of current it also prohibits forward flow of current without sunlight to excite the electrons and bridge the junctions.
As solar panels are strings diodes wired in series, if you partially block one diode by providing less light due to a shadow the performance of the entire panel suffers disproportionately. It’s actually bad for the panel to be exposed to shadows continously as when you are blocking flow of current due to shadows you are starting to wear down the silicon junctions in other cells eventually causing permanent damage to the panel.
Grid tied solar, at least the businesses that promote it for corporate profits are so woke. And they really want your business, installing now-relatively inexpensive solar panels on your roof in a few hours, paying an electrician then charging you for decades to finance the panels. Liberals really don’t want to admit it – but a lot of these solar companies are scams. And when they’re not, they are ripping off other ratepayers by subsidizing other, often wealthier,people’s solar.
Truth is the solar subsidies were needed at first, as the technology was immature. Grid tied solar makes a lot of sense, even for the suburbanite homeowner, but it should not be subsidized. Instead, solar systems should have battery storage and work with the grid to support and enhance everybody’s energy reliability while reducing homeowners electricity costs. Homeowners with grid tied solar should avoid sending power to grid whenever possible, storing it for their own use in batteries, and only tapping the grid when there is insufficient battery storage. That’s really what is best for the grid and the environment.
Grid-tied solar doesn’t have to be a drag on other consumers, while still being a way for homeowners to get low-cost, environmentally friendly-energy into their homes. Battery storage can ensure the home is a little reliant on the grid as possible, and if they lack insufficient power, tapping the grid only at times when there isn’t enough power remaining in the batteries. It can also tap into the grid to top of batteries in times when there is excessive grid capacity, such as at night when electricity rates are low.
Now if I was interested in a suburban house, whettther it be one that smells like cow shit or otherwise, maybe I would be more interested in Grid-tied solar. But I really want to do that fully off-grid thing when I buy my own land, so I never have a pay a utility bill, and are in full control of my system. So I don’t have to live somewhere next to major road, near neighbors that would complain or otherwise annoy myself. Of course the greenie advertisers don’t understand such things, and instead will fill my social media feeds with advertising for grid-tied solar finacing scams.
