Factcheck: 16 False+Misleading Myths About Solar by @carbonbrief.org interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/so... FALSE 1) Solar is ‘unreliable’ 2) ‘Solar+wind are expensive’ 3) ‘As nations use more solar, bills get more expensive’ 4) Solar farms emit "more carbon over their lives than they save’
5) Solar is ‘a serious threat to agriculture & food security’ 6) Energy projects will generate a ‘tsunami of solar panel waste’ 7) Battery storage presents a ‘huge fire risk’ 8) Heatwaves make solar panels much 'less efficient’ 9) Solar farms ‘will be designated brownfield sites
MISLEADING 10) ‘Solar panels should be on roofs’ not in fields 11) Solar should be built on ‘old brownfield sites…not on green land’ 12) ‘Bird & bat deaths are common’ on solar farms 13) Solar farms are ‘destroying habitats on an industrial scale’
14) Solar farms have a ‘devastating impact on house prices in the area’ 15) Solar farms ‘just can’t withstand the harsh elements of nature’ 16) ‘The rush for solar panels is leaving us at the mercy of China’
"Rooftop PV should be installed as much as possible worldwide. It not only helps eliminate pollution from current electricity generation, but it also reduces the need for land & transmission+distribution lines, thereby reducing the cost associated with both, plus wildfire risk."
“Due to the scale of the renewable energy transition needed worldwide, both rooftop and utility PV will be needed in large quantities. As such, policies should encourage both and hinder neither."
Excellent article overall, though this needs rethinking: "One solution to this could be agrivoltaics. The concept of combining farming – including livestock grazing and shade-tolerant crops – with solar panels has been gaining momentum as a solution to land-use conflicts." bsky.app/profile/xoii...
I agree. Solar panels closer to the equator add the benefit of being useful for providing shade and habitable environments for bees and other pollinators, plus plant protection from wind and other weather. Win/Win all around👍 Symbiotic pairing.
Wildfire risk is a huge concern in California!!! The PGE fires single handedly raised the vast majority of Californian electricity prices AND insurance prices as well 💵💴💷 PGE is having to create fire lines through mountains that are 50-100 YARDS wide! I've seen them. Localized RE is the way forward
On the issue of battery fires like what happened in Moss Landing California, those were batteries that were generations old and had known spontaneous fire issues, and were housed in a building, and FAR too close together. Modern batteries and deployment strategies prevent fires of this scale.