As much as I love the green revolution, every time I drive through a solar farm, I cannot help thinking this does not feel right.

[johnniemac@mastodon.scot]

@randahl with any new technology, there will be improvement in both efficiency and positioning. I think it might be easier to move the PV panels than, say, a nuclear reactor.

[jramskov@helvede.net]

@randahl while I agree it isn’t the prettiest and that we need to cover roofs and parking lots, I think we need both and we need more wind turbines and batteries too. Fact is this is the cheapest way and price often wins.

[madsenandersc@social.vivaldi.net]

@billiglarper @jgrg @randahl

Energy plants (depending on what they are) are usually farmed with the same kinds of equipment as the ordinary farm crops, so I don't really see that as an option either - the risk of damaging panels during soil preparation is still too high in my opinion.

Pastures are a better option, but, like I said above, it's somewhat depending on who's grazing there. Also, at least here in Denmark, a significant portion of grass fields are rotated (Corn - Clover-grass - Barley - Catch crops), so we're back to heavy machinery.

Meadows might be an option since that type of land is usually hard to use for anything but grazing, but it also tends to be pretty, so covering those with solar panels might not be that popular.

To be honest, I probably prefer retiring farmland that is on the fringe anyway and use that for solar panels. Sandy, drought-prone areas that need a lot of watering and fertilizer to provide a usable crop yield has a lot going for it as the base for a solar farm instead.

I wish that a bit more work would go into putting up trees around the fields, though. A 12 row shelterbelt around the lot would go a long way towards reducing the visual impact of a solar park.

All that aside, to Randahls original point, yes, cover every parking lot and any roof capable of carrying the panels.

[arnold68@mastodon.nl]

@randahl I totally agree. In the Netherlands we see good farming land being used for solar plants because it generates more money. A total waste of resources.

[mrmanor@social.data.coop]

@taatm
Exactly, on people's rooftops—that's where a lot of the electricity is used anyway
@randahl

[mrmanor@social.data.coop]

@leeloo
In Denmark it most often rains horizontally 🤪
@shuro @randahl

[madsenandersc@social.vivaldi.net]

@billiglarper @jgrg @randahl

Oh, but for sure - I don't disagree that energy crops are a woefully inefficient use of land. I thought you wanted to have solar panels on the fields WITH the energy plants, and that would be problematic.

I think we basically agree, then - let's use the best arable land for "real" agriculture and use an area comparable to the area used for energy plants for solar panels instead - and since the quality of the soil is pretty much irrelevant, let's use the area that is the least useful for growing crops anyway.