Solar farm panels pointing skywards

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day all

Across Oz these solar farms are springing up, each adding to the power flowing through the grid
This one at Nyngan in western NSW has 1,4 million panels across a 250Ha site and produces 100 Megawatts- enough power to satisfy 33,000 homes every day


exif- Panny FZ-300; 1/320s x F4,0; ISO-100; lens at 4x zoom / 105mm FF equiv

There were sheep (not shown here) under the panels eating the greenery, and a tractor with a rotary brush was seen driving along the panels swiping dust off them

As always, feedback welcome
Phil

[Isac]

That's a lot of panels there Phil. Millions are using them now, but probably don't think too much about how they will be disposed of when they die - which will probably create a massive problem. We still need mining (coal, fuel, plastics) which is destroying the earth to make these panels so a lot more will have to be done before they can claim they are truly a "Green" product. Even electric cars are a bit of a problem. Here's an extract of some interesting info:

"Electric cars are not zero emissions vehicles. We have seen that although they do not emit CO2 while being driven, they might do it in 3 other stages:
1. During manufacturing
2. Energy production
3. At the end of their life cycle.
In the first case, the need for mining activities to extract the rare earth metals that are used in batteries is very energy consuming and polluting.

As for the energy production, if the car is being powered with energy from burning fossil fuels, it is still releasing CO2 into the atmosphere, not from the tailpipe but from some distant power plant. When it comes to batteries being recycled, it is still an expensive and ongoing process and most batteries are not being recycled yet".

It's all interesting and I'm sure everyone will see it differently.

[K1W1]

it is still an expensive and ongoing process and most batteries are not being recycled yet".

FWIW Tesla batteries are recycled. When they get to the end of their useful life in cars they are taken out and fitted into the Tesla Wall battery modules people use on their houses. Because of the requirements of the power walls compared to the requirements for a vehicle the batteries can quite happily continue to be used for quite some time after they are removed from vehicles. Yes, ultimately they will die and will need to be finally disposed of but at least somebody is doing what they can to minimise waste.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

Good thoughts above

Interestingly, I have read that the Lithium in the battery does not 'wear out' ... it's the other stuff that degrades, thus the battery can be "de-composed" and reprocessed for new batteries along the way
Phil