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Saw something wild at a big solar farm in Nevada last weekend
I drove past that huge solar farm out near Tonopah on my way to a job, and I noticed something weird. The panels were all clean on one side of the field but the other side was covered in dust and bird droppings. Talked to a guy at a gas station who said they stopped cleaning half of them to save water costs in the drought. So one side is running at like 80% efficiency and the other is probably down to 50% or worse. That got me thinking is it better to save water or squeeze out more power when every watt counts for the grid? On one hand desert places can't waste water on washing panels every week. On the other hand that lost power means more fossil fuels getting burned somewhere else. What do you all think which tradeoff wins out in a dry climate like that?
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nancy52413d ago
Hey I totally get where you're coming from but honestly it's a real bummer to see those panels just sitting there caked in dust. It's like watching money and clean energy slip away for no good reason. Mila said 80% vs 50% isn't a crisis but every little bit adds up when we're trying to ditch fossil fuels you know? And in a drought every drop of water counts too so I feel stuck just like you. It's rough when the best choice means something has to give either way.
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elliot4512d ago
@nancy524 you bring up a solid point about those watts adding up. But heres the real question: how often are they even washing the clean side? If theyre doing it once a month vs once a week, that changes the math big time on water use vs power loss. Also curious if they looked into dry brushing or something that uses way less water.
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80% vs 50% efficiency doesn't sound like a crisis to me. Seems like worrying about a few lost watts while ignoring the bigger picture.
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