Thread

1. 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. swiftcoder · 1790149813 · focus · HN ↗

         > 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

         I live in a European country, where the phone company hasn't bothered to come remove the old unused copper phone lines in the last 5 years. Thousands of dollars worth of cables running past my house alone, and no one has bothered to go strip it in the night and sell it

         This feels like one of those USA problems that would be better addressed by funding decent social services (free healthcare, cheap housing, addiction treatment programs, etc).

         1. trollbridge · 1790162831 · focus · HN ↗

            California already has those social services; that doesn’t stop antisocial people from doing antisocial things. A tiny fraction of people can cause a lot of damage.

            There is a part of California that still has ancient telegraph lines complete with weathered copper with the blueish colour. Nobody has come by to scrap it yet. So it’s really a matter of proximity to wherever antisocial people choose to live.

            1. dv_dt · 1790166266 · focus · HN ↗

               California has those services but they tend to be only funded to a fraction of the need. And the gap between the need vs help is a deep gulf due to how inequality lands on all other public and private areas of society

               1. FuriouslyAdrift · 1790171160 · focus · HN ↗

                  California's 2025-26 budget for health and human services was $307 billion for 39 million people. Compared with France at $370 billion for 67 million people.

                  1. swiftcoder · 1790172085 · focus · HN ↗

                     There is a certain gulf in the efficiency of spending for sure

                     1. lokar · 1790173083 · focus · HN ↗

                        The high cost of housing makes the needs much higher

                        1. swiftcoder · 1790174021 · focus · HN ↗

                           > The high cost of housing makes the needs much higher

                           I mean, this is pretty solvable if the political will was there to upzone large areas of low-density housing around the Bay and LA...

                           1. FuriouslyAdrift · 1790175284 · focus · HN ↗

                              There's plenty of affordable housing outside of areas like the Bay area (or Hong Kong, Vienna, London, etc.). Why in the world would someone want to destroy what makes those areas desirable in the name of "affordability"?

                              The fact that these areas are highly competitive is what keeps them desireable.

                              When I was in Cali, I lived in Tracy, Stockton, and outside Sacremento because while I was a tech worker, I wasn't a top 1% tech worker. Not everyone needs to live in the Bay.

                              1. swiftcoder · 1790177529 · focus · HN ↗

                                 > When I was in Cali, I lived in Tracy, Stockton, and outside Sacremento because while I was a tech worker, I wasn't a top 1% tech worker. Not everyone needs to live in the Bay.

                                 Did you commute into the Bay?

                                 Because by my count, Stockton to SF or Stockton to Menlo Park is a 3-hours/day commute. 3 hours/day on the highway may be surviving, but it sure as shit isn't living (just in case anyone from outside the US thinks this is an extreme outlier, I worked with a number of QA folks in the Bay who had commutes this bad, or worse)

                                 1. FuriouslyAdrift · 1790184350 · focus · HN ↗

                                    Stockton to Cupertino... Tracy to SF and Cupertino. I also commuted to Sacremento for a while.

                                    I made about half as much as my co-workers (I was contract) but I took home more due to the difference in living expenses. Also, I had a house instead of an apartment.

                                    1. swiftcoder · 1790184817 · focus · HN ↗

                                       I'm glad it worked out for you, but I wouldn't wish that commute on my worst enemy (this is one of the primary reasons I never moved to work in Cali)

                                       1. FuriouslyAdrift · 1790185733 · focus · HN ↗

                                          Well when I was much younger (19) and lived in North Hollywood but worked in downtown LA, I walked as I didn't own a car. I was considered a freak because everyone in LA at that time drove everywhere... even to the end of the block.

                                          Now, decades later, I have no desire to be anywhere "trendy" or "hip". I want affordability, stability, space, and quiet.

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.