Thousands of acres of farmland/habitat getting turned into solar farms

[1srelluc]

You can tell this was once farmland where Farmer John sold out.....The pics were taken by a NG pilot on another forum.

So I fly for the NG part time. I’ve noticed in the last year or so solar farms are all of the sudden popping up everywhere, seemingly overnight.

Below are a few pictures I snapped the other night. This thing was massive, and more was being added. It was absolutely disgusting to see.

Hundreds if not thousands of acres of habitat and hunting opportunity destroyed. Meanwhile there is a massive and sprawling warehouse district next to the airport. I haven’t seen a single solar panel on a roof.

Where the fuck are conservation organizations on this!? I’m not sure how anyone can witness this and defend it as better for the environment. It’s simply maddening, and it feels like there isn’t a damn thing I or anyone can do about it.

I’m not sure what the solution is, I just have a pretty damn good idea that this isn’t it.

The only things worse would be a wind farm or watching thousands of acres be turned into cookie cutter mega subdivisions outside of population centers like in Texas.....At least the solar/wind farms can be uprooted and the land put back into use.

 

[Cellblock2429]

You can tell this was once farmland where Farmer John sold out.....The pics were taken by a NG pilot.

So I fly for the NG part time. I’ve noticed in the last year or so solar farms are all of the sudden popping up everywhere, seemingly overnight.

Below are a few pictures I snapped the other night. This thing was massive, and more was being added. It was absolutely disgusting to see.

Hundreds if not thousands of acres of habitat and hunting opportunity destroyed. Meanwhile there is a massive and sprawling warehouse district next to the airport. I haven’t seen a single solar panel on a roof.

Where the fuck are conservation organizations on this!? I’m not sure how anyone can witness this and defend it as better for the environment. It’s simply maddening, and it feels like there isn’t a damn thing I or anyone can do about it.

I’m not sure what the solution is, I just have a pretty damn good idea that this isn’t it.

The only things worse would be a wind farm or watching thousands of acres be turned into cookie cutter mega subdivisions outside of population centers like in Texas.....At least the solar/wind farms can be uprooted and the land put back into use.

/---/ Liberal groups tend to leave each other's pet projects alone even if they harm their own. As an example, PETA won't complain about windmill farms killing thousands of bald eagles, but God forbid you're caught with a bald eagle feather.
Secondly, I don't think you can put solar panels next to an airport because they reflect blindingly bright sunlight skywards that can blind pilots while landing. You're a pilot, so you'd know better than me.

 

[1srelluc]

/---/ Liberal groups tend to leave each other's pet projects alone even if they harm their own. As an example, PETA won't complain about windmill farms killing thousands of bald eagles, but God forbid you're caught with a bald eagle feather.
Secondly, I don't think you can put solar panels next to an airport because they reflect blindingly bright sunlight skywards that can blind pilots while landing. You're a pilot, so you'd know better than me.

I'm not, the guy who's post I put in italics is.....My comments are in bold.

 

[Cellblock2429]

I'm not, the guy who's post I put in italics is.....My comments are in bold.

/---/ It wasn't readily clear when reading at 8 am after only two cups of coffee.

 

[Crick]

Solar panels are designed to absorb as much visible light as possible, not reflect it. A field of panels would reflect much less light than, say, a pond or a lake.

 

[Cellblock2429]

Solar panels are designed to absorb as much visible light as possible, not reflect it. A field of panels would reflect much less light than, say, a pond or a lake.

/----/ That's the opposite of what I read. Newer ones may be improved, but it has been a long-standing problem,

Sunlight reflection​

The PV glare reflected can affect the aircraft staff in the air and on the ground in the following ways:

Pilot distraction: One of the most common sources of safety concerns is the reflection of sunlight off the panels. The glare distractions can be hazardous especially if the effects are felt during the crucial stages of flight such as takeoff and landing.

Air traffic controller distraction: Glare is also known to affect the airport’s air traffic control tower, and hence compromises the safety of the entire aircraft space.

Can Glare From Solar Panels Affect Aircrafts? | Solartechadvisor

Solar panels are a growing source of renewable energy and a revenue generation avenue in the world.

solartechadvisor.com

 

[1srelluc]

/---/ It wasn't readily clear when reading at 8 am after only two cups of coffee.

Lazy bum.

At 0630 I was already out cleaning-up the remains of a bird feeder a damn bear got into last night.

RIP....Sigh, that's why I buy my feeders at yard sales for a buck or so.

 

[Crick]

/----/ That's the opposite of what I read. Newer ones may be improved, but it has been a long-standing problem,

Sunlight reflection​

The PV glare reflected can affect the aircraft staff in the air and on the ground in the following ways:

Pilot distraction: One of the most common sources of safety concerns is the reflection of sunlight off the panels. The glare distractions can be hazardous especially if the effects are felt during the crucial stages of flight such as takeoff and landing.

Air traffic controller distraction: Glare is also known to affect the airport’s air traffic control tower, and hence compromises the safety of the entire aircraft space.

Can Glare From Solar Panels Affect Aircrafts? | Solartechadvisor

Solar panels are a growing source of renewable energy and a revenue generation avenue in the world.

solartechadvisor.com

PV panels have always been as black as they could be made. Its how they work. Now you can certainly get glare from the glass covering them, but every watt of reflected light is a watt that didn't make it into the grid. Manufacturers have always done everything they can to avoid reflection. And, while I've not traveled the whole wide world, I haven't seen a lot of PV fields next to commercial airports; maybe next to a rural airfield supporting crop dusters.

 

[1srelluc]

PV panels have always been as black as they could be made. Its how they work. Now you can certainly get glare from the glass covering them, but every watt of reflected light is a watt that didn't make it into the grid. Manufacturers have always done everything they can to avoid reflection. And, while I've not traveled the whole wide world, I haven't seen a lot of PV fields next to commercial airports; maybe next to a rural airfield supporting crop dusters.

You are correct (for once), a friend has a solar array on the side of a south-facing hill behind his house (it covers a few acres) and I asked him about reflection and he said he never noticed any.

 

[ding]

Solar panels are designed to absorb as much visible light as possible, not reflect it. A field of panels would reflect much less light than, say, a pond or a lake.

And convert it into electricity instead of producing heat, right?

 

[Old Rocks]

And convert it into electricity instead of producing heat, right?

Electricity which then gets converted to heat in transmission and doing whatever work it does. Even LED lights produce some heat. There is no heat loss from solar panels. All the electricity eventually creates heat in it's use.

 

[Old Rocks]

You can tell this was once farmland where Farmer John sold out.....The pics were taken by a NG pilot on another forum.

So I fly for the NG part time. I’ve noticed in the last year or so solar farms are all of the sudden popping up everywhere, seemingly overnight.

Below are a few pictures I snapped the other night. This thing was massive, and more was being added. It was absolutely disgusting to see.

Hundreds if not thousands of acres of habitat and hunting opportunity destroyed. Meanwhile there is a massive and sprawling warehouse district next to the airport. I haven’t seen a single solar panel on a roof.

Where the fuck are conservation organizations on this!? I’m not sure how anyone can witness this and defend it as better for the environment. It’s simply maddening, and it feels like there isn’t a damn thing I or anyone can do about it.

I’m not sure what the solution is, I just have a pretty damn good idea that this isn’t it.

The only things worse would be a wind farm or watching thousands of acres be turned into cookie cutter mega subdivisions outside of population centers like in Texas.....At least the solar/wind farms can be uprooted and the land put back into use.

There are many solutions to that. There is at least 4000 square miles of parking lots in the US. It would take 10,000 square miles of present solar to power the US. So there is a significant fraction of that right there. And you would have cover for your vehicle when shopping. Another solution is agrivoltaics. That is farming under raised solar panels. It is presently working in many places, and actually increases the crops in some cases, and provides the farmer with a second income, one that is year around. VPP's are also a solution, already in use in Australia and Vermont. And then there are the open canals in California. Cover them, and you save billions of gallons of water that would otherwise be evaporated. And the water cools the panels and increases there efficiency. I am sure that there are other solutions as well. No need to take farmland out of production.

 

[ding]

Electricity which then gets converted to heat in transmission and doing whatever work it does. Even LED lights produce some heat. There is no heat loss from solar panels. All the electricity eventually creates heat in it's use.

Not the electricity that is used to perform work; kinetic and potential. And what electricity that does produce heat doesn't heat the planet like solar radiation does. Electricity usage isn't in the earth's energy budget but solar radiation is.

It only takes a 0.7 W/m^2 reduction in solar radiation to change the planet from net warming to net cooling. Do the math.

 

[ReinyDays]

Where is this located? ... the ground is all brown and everything looks dead already ... those picture only show few sections, that's not much land ... no larger than a typical oil refinery ...

Why does the OP think there's a food shortage in the USA? ... less corn fields is good for remaining farmers, they'll get better prices ... are we still paying folks to not grow corn? ...

I'm not saying solar panels are great for everyone ... but cutting back food production isn't a problem ... and I think the OP's reference is spot-on correct ... all those warehouses should have panels on their roofs ... not just the extra energy production, but some shade on the roofing materials will allow it to last longer ... and we all know how expensive re-roofing is ...

 

[Dekster]

Solar creates extra revenue for farmers allowing them to keep the business viable and the property in the family hands as the farmer ages. I have no issue with that aspect of it. Solar, however, isn't the great white hope democrats try to act like it is.

 

[badger2]

The lithium game has changed making both Iran and China U.S. competitors for recycling.

‘They Now Need Democracy’: Internet Fears for Iran’s Safety as Tehran Finds $500 Billion in Lithium

Iran announced this week that geologists had found some 8.6 million tons of lithium in the western province of Hamadan, instantly making Iranians the owners of one of the top five largest reserves of the metal in the world.

sputniknews.com

 

[Cellblock2429]

You are correct (for once), a friend has a solar array on the side of a south-facing hill behind his house (it covers a few acres) and I asked him about reflection and he said he never noticed any.

/——-/ Of course he wouldn’t notice it standing beside or under it. He would if he were flying 1,000
Feet over it.

 

[Moonglow]

You can tell this was once farmland where Farmer John sold out.....The pics were taken by a NG pilot on another forum.

So I fly for the NG part time. I’ve noticed in the last year or so solar farms are all of the sudden popping up everywhere, seemingly overnight.

Below are a few pictures I snapped the other night. This thing was massive, and more was being added. It was absolutely disgusting to see.

Hundreds if not thousands of acres of habitat and hunting opportunity destroyed. Meanwhile there is a massive and sprawling warehouse district next to the airport. I haven’t seen a single solar panel on a roof.

Where the fuck are conservation organizations on this!? I’m not sure how anyone can witness this and defend it as better for the environment. It’s simply maddening, and it feels like there isn’t a damn thing I or anyone can do about it.

I’m not sure what the solution is, I just have a pretty damn good idea that this isn’t it.

The only things worse would be a wind farm or watching thousands of acres be turned into cookie cutter mega subdivisions outside of population centers like in Texas.....At least the solar/wind farms can be uprooted and the land put back into use.

What a joke of an article.