Thread

What California is learning from solar panels built over irrigation canals

372 points · 744 comments · Jtsummers

nbf_1995 · 1790086541 · focus · HN ↗
It seems like it would be more effective to simply put all the solar panels in a field, and construct a cheap shade over the entire canal no? The supports in the picture are massive and don't look cheap. Also I would imagine the solar array uses more copper than a similar capacity array just built in a field. You can't daisy chain multiple miles of solar panels together, so you need an extra power line to run alongside the whole thing.
Put the solar panels in a field: The solar array uses less copper. The shade supports don't have to hold up solar panels: Shade supports cost less.
The best reasoning they give is that California has insane permitting requirements, and it takes 1/6 the time to build on developed land compared to undeveloped land.
1. schnevets · 1790111056 · focus · HN ↗
  Anecdotally speaking, I have heard of a massive California solar farm in an undeveloped area that has serious vandalism problems. Junkies will find ways through the fencing at night, strip copper and other materials from panels, and cause thousands in damages and lost energy just to extract enough scrap for a fix.
  Nothing short of a face-to-face security response will deter these criminals, so there it is a challenging cost-benefit balance. At least panels in parking lots and other developed spaces have the benefit of witnesses. I'm sure a 20 foot climb up a steel beam over running water is a decent deterrent as well.
  1. rottencupcakes · 1790113398 · focus · HN ↗
    [dead]
    onlypassingthru · 1790115247 · focus · HN ↗
    A company nightwatchman making $20/hr would cost about $80k/yr, all in.
    One prisoner costs the California taxpayer $125k/yr, all in.
    Maybe the company should foot the bill for a security guard instead of asking the taxpayers to subsidize their business.
    sebmellen · 1790124596 · focus · HN ↗
    Brilliant idea! We should just privatize everything! By doing so, we’ll make companies foot the bill for every public service they rely on!
    Come to think of it, who needs communally regulated safety services like jails, prisons, and law enforcement? In addition to having a private guard, every company should have their own in-house holding pen and justice system :)
    randochatter · 1790131551 · focus · HN ↗
    I was shooting heroin and reading “The Fountainhead” in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.
    “Bad news, detective. We got a situation.”
    “What? Is the mayor trying to ban trans fats again?”
    “Worse. Somebody just stole four hundred and forty-seven million dollars’ worth of bitcoins.”
    The heroin needle practically fell out of my arm. “What kind of monster would do something like that? Bitcoins are the ultimate currency: virtual, anonymous, stateless. They represent true economic freedom, not subject to arbitrary manipulation by any government. Do we have any leads?”
    “Not yet. But mark my words: we’re going to figure out who did this and we’re going to take them down … provided someone pays us a fair market rate to do so.”
    “Easy, chief,” I said. “Any rate the market offers is, by definition, fair.”
    He laughed. “That’s why you’re the best I got, Lisowski. Now you get out there and find those bitcoins.”
    “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m on it.”
    I put a quarter in the siren. Ten minutes later, I was on the scene. It was a normal office building, strangled on all sides by public sidewalks. I hopped over them and went inside.
    “Home Depot™ Presents the Police!®” I said, flashing my badge and my gun and a small picture of Ron Paul. “Nobody move unless you want to!” They didn’t.
    “Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?” No one spoke up.
    “Come on,” I said. “Don’t you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?”
    It didn’t seem like they did.
    “Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I’m just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters.”
    Grandmaster Flash on “Birth of a Culture” | The New Yorker Radio Hour
    Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn’t care that a fortune in computer money invented to buy drugs was missing.
    I figured I could wait them out. I lit several cigarettes indoors. A pregnant lady coughed, and I told her that secondhand smoke is a myth. Just then, a man in glasses made a break for it.
    “Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®” I yelled.
    Too late. He was already out the front door. I went after him.
    “Stop right there!” I yelled as I ran. He was faster than me because I always try to avoid stepping on public sidewalks. Our country needs a private-sidewalk voucher system, but, thanks to the incestuous interplay between our corrupt federal government and the public-sidewalk lobby, it will never happen.
    I was losing him. “Listen, I’ll pay you to stop!” I yelled. “What would you consider an appropriate price point for stopping? I’ll offer you a thirteenth of an ounce of gold and a gently worn ‘Bob Barr ‘08’ extra-large long-sleeved men’s T-shirt!”
    He turned. In his hand was a revolver that the Constitution said he had every right to own. He fired at me and missed. I pulled my own gun, put a quarter in it, and fired back. The bullet lodged in a U.S.P.S. mailbox less than a foot from his head. I shot the mailbox again, on purpose.
    “All right, all right!” the man yelled, throwing down his weapon. “I give up, cop! I confess: I took the bitcoins.”
    “Why’d you do it?” I asked, as I slapped a pair of Oikos™ Greek Yogurt Presents Handcuffs® on the guy.
    “Because I was afraid.”
    “Afraid?”
    “Afraid of an economic future free from the pernicious meddling of central bankers,” he said. “I’m a central banker.”
    I wanted to coldcock the guy. Years ago, a central banker killed my partner. Instead, I shook my head.
    “Let this be a message to all your central-banker friends out on the street,” I said. “No matter how many bitcoins you steal, you’ll never take away the dream of an open society based on the principles of personal and economic freedom.”
    He nodded, because he knew I was right. Then he swiped his credit card to pay me for arresting him.
    -Tom O’Donnell
    rawgabbit · 1790132516 · focus · HN ↗
    [delayed]
    sebmellen · 1790135714 · focus · HN ↗
    Amazing. I remember this from the /r/Buttcoin days.
    hobo123 · 1790141219 · focus · HN ↗
    Great breakfast read, thank you!

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