Thanks for Solar Panels!

That's about what they should cost...$20. Now they're saying solar panels contribute to global warming, because they absorb all the heat but only convert about 15% to energy and the rest is lost as heat....but we already knew that...Still waiting for reports of people being impaled by icicles being cast out from spinning wind turbine blades....

The percentage of the earth's surface covered with solar panels is minuscule, so the contribution to global warming is probably immeasurable.

It's true the albedo of the solar panels is probably lower than the ground they are covering, but the 15% of the energy captured means that a larger amount of heat (considering Carnot efficiency) is not produced elsewhere to generate that energy.

It's probably a wash, but you get the free solar energy. If you're worried about global warming, you can paint your roof white.

Sure now, but just wait until there are solar farms reaching several square miles all over the place....

https://www.inverse.com/science/why-turning-the-sahara-into-a-giant-solar-farm-could-damage-the-global-climate

A very interesting article. thanks

Maybe the people living in the Mid West USA should install more panels to increase the temperatures from -20C or -40C but then there would be more for them to shovel snow and ice from and though I like the end results of a snow plough on a solar farm it seems a bit impractical.

Still we only find -20c in our freezers over here so no contest!

They are usually installed with storage batteries. I'm wondering if you could reverse polarity and run some juice through the panels in the forward bias direction, just enough to warm them up enough to let the snow and ice melt and slide off.

..."Solar panel heating systems are used on systems installed in areas with heavy snowfall and long winters. These heating systems use either a heated water line or electric line to warm up the solar panel surfaces just enough to melt snow."Nov 30, 2017

https://www.gocamsolar.com/blog/solar-panel-snow-removal#:~:text=Solar%20panel%20heating%20systems%20are,just%20enough%20to%20melt%20snow.

Another factor you don't hear much about is grid stability. Thousands of generators spinning around have a huge amount of angular momentum whereas inverters on the output of solar and wind farms do not. This grid inertia stabilizes the grid, and as more rotating machines are replaced, the grid becomes less stable.

https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/baseload/grid-inertia-why-it-matters-in-a-renewable-world/#gref

Yet another reason to go nuclear.....nice find, I get the feeling we'll be hearing more about this in the future...

Hello Steph,

I'd really love to get a heap of those panels to build systems, but then here is Aus (as you would know) we have the regulations imposed by our grid operators and power retailers limiting the output that we can return to grid.

There was a recent announcement that Dubbo would be the site for a pilot system to utilise some disposed panels and evaluate their returns. University study that from memory will be around 150kW, ground mounted.

Still, that's only the panels from 50 of the 3kW domestic systems that were installed in the past. Most are now installing the 6.6kW panels with 5kW inverter.

I suspect that we will soon see them on the annual "bulky waste" collections ready for the picking.

True! I look forward to the wholesale dumping of panels. Time to power pumps and things with the DC when you live out in the sticks. I have my eye on a roof load of panels coming down soon and nowhere to go as the installer doesn't want them.

Have collected a few 5KW inverters and even a few VFD which turn 415v into approx 600 DC and then back to 3 phase 415V, forget the 415incomer and just hook up 20 panels or 40 series parallel and there you have 600V DC at 4.8 or 9.6 KW and configure the VFD for 50 HZ and there you have a good 3 phase supply.

Around here single phase is all the Moguls will supply and even try to remove polyphase power to homes they deem don't need it.