Solar Farms

[Lamb]

I went to visit my dad in Indiana and saw a solar farm... rows and rows of farm fields that had solar panels set up. It was hideous.

Are solar farms like that really necessary? Isn't there a better way?

 

[Castle Church]

They are a ridiculous waste of space and investment largely driven by government programs. It would be much better to put them along highway medians and roofs. I have seen some surface parking lots that have solar panels over them to both shade the cars and produce electricity, which is a wonderful use of space and increases the living standard of the people shopping there.

 

[tango]

They are a ridiculous waste of space and investment largely driven by government programs. It would be much better to put them along highway medians and roofs. I have seen some surface parking lots that have solar panels over them to both shade the cars and produce electricity, which is a wonderful use of space and increases the living standard of the people shopping there.

I saw some pictures showing just this idea. I forget which country it was from, but essentially what they had was a median in the highway, covered by solar panels, that was used as a cyclepath. It provides a safe space for cyclists to use segregated from the faster traffic (and also leaves the traffic free to travel at higher speeds without watching for cyclists), while offering the cyclists some shelter from the elements and using otherwise more or less useless land rather than destroying farmland for the panels.

But, you know, let's go and dig up all the farmland. Most people just buy their produce from the grocery stores so we don't really need anyone to grow it, right?

 

[Castle Church]

I saw some pictures showing just this idea. I forget which country it was from, but essentially what they had was a median in the highway, covered by solar panels, that was used as a cyclepath. It provides a safe space for cyclists to use segregated from the faster traffic (and also leaves the traffic free to travel at higher speeds without watching for cyclists), while offering the cyclists some shelter from the elements and using otherwise more or less useless land rather than destroying farmland for the panels.

But, you know, let's go and dig up all the farmland. Most people just buy their produce from the grocery stores so we don't really need anyone to grow it, right?

Might have been Germany, I know I have seen pictures of it from there.

The Airport here has them on the top level of the parking garage, which is great, as usually the cars are in the elements up there. Now the solar panels provide shade and rain cover.