How many are ENERGY Farming

[ruffdog]

This wind farm in Wisconsin has been going for twenty years and the crops look great under them.

Wisconsin Energy to buy Montfort wind farm for $27 million

 

[Diggin It]

The title of this thread is misleading anyway. Not 'farming' but rather collecting. Collecting energy produced by the sun and wind. No farming involved that I can see.

^^^ Look again vvv

Soy and corn are cash crops for the oil and ethanol industry. It's not hard to understand how all that works. Sure the 1,000's of acres or literally thousands of miles in the USA are dedicated to these two crops for industry.

 

[Rebeldad1]

Here's an example of 13,000 acres prime cropland being taken out of commission to make fuel for electric cars.

Work starting on 13,000-acre solar farm in northern Indiana

An Israeli company has started work to build a solar energy farm that’s planned to cover some 13,000 acres (5,261 hectares) across two northern Indiana counties when completed.

www.tribstar.com

what i read was it was going back into the grid "enough to power 75,000 households"
You implied it was for EV's. How did you get that?

 

[5030]

In the last few years - hundreds of wind generators down south of me. In the heart of the Palouse. It doesn't seem to be reducing the wheat fields. Most of these "windmills" are on the ridge lines where farming is most difficult.

No solar farms. Too much snow and wind blown dust. Probably just not enough sunny days.

Use the correct terminology. Not a solar farm, it's an industrial solar installation.

It appears to me that wind turbines have their own set of issues anyway. recycling them for one and the constant whoosh-whoosh noise they make when situated near inhabited areas. I'd say they are more viable as an energy source and certainly not as disruptive to tillable farm ground as an industrial solar installation. Finally, if the wind don't blow they don't produce juice and I do know the wind velocity has to be at 'X' mph for them to make power.

Bottom line here is, as much as the Greenies want to abolish conventional means of power generation, Nuclear and fossil fuel generation. There is no way conventional power generation can be supplanted by alternative generation of electricity, especially with the ever increasing need for electricity.

I still maintain that wind turbines need to be place entirely around Washington, DC. All the hot air politicians produce would provide an endless source of hot wind to power them....

I see the electricity producers are already warning of brown outs in the midwest and east this winter because demand is outstripping capacity. That will only get worse with more toaster cars being sold, more cordless power tools and more electric eating appliances being bought and put online. Guess maybe I need to buy a personal solar array and storage capacity to offset that, or may be my own wind turbine....

 

[5030]

what i read was it was going back into the grid "enough to power 75,000 households"
You implied it was for EV's. How did you get that?

What I read is just another sell out of domestic land to a foreign entity to develop. Pretty soon ,everything here will be owned and controlled by foreigners. Isn't the Indiana Turnpike foreign owned now?

My comment is, power 75K households so long as they can pay for the electricity and keep in mind, no sun, no juice. Snow cover, no juice either.

Plus you just kissed off 13,000 acres of tillable farmland. In my view, farmland = food. Food = survival. Duh.

 

[ruffdog]

This local solar farm is being "planted" right now.

Alliant Energy | North Rock Solar Project

 

[5030]

Just some more viable cropland down the toilet.

 

[bmaverick]

This local solar farm is being "planted" right now.

Alliant Energy | North Rock Solar Project

Yep, just north of my place. Loosing some 473 acres on this installation. And 11 more other sites in the region will be built as well.

WI dairy industry has taken a bad blow just at the end of 2019. Every week 4 more dairy farms folded. In a weird twist, California out paced WI for the first time producing milk in 2021. And here we are in 2022 now.

 

[oldnslo]

Anyone know what the life expectancy is for a solar panel and what percentage of efficiency is lost per year? Durability of panels from hail, wind, heavy wet snow, etc.

what if any are the terms for decommissioning a solar farm?

 

[Hay Dude]

Anyone know what the life expectancy is for a solar panel and what percentage of efficiency is lost per year? Durability of panels from hail, wind, heavy wet snow, etc.

what if any are the terms for decommissioning a solar farm?

All I know is they dont work in the dark and they're BUTT UGLY.

 

[bmaverick]

Anyone know what the life expectancy is for a solar panel and what percentage of efficiency is lost per year? Durability of panels from hail, wind, heavy wet snow, etc.

what if any are the terms for decommissioning a solar farm?

I have panels still working since 1998 made by Uni-Solar/Ovonics. Still getting the same charge rate performance as the day they were deployed for the past 24 years.

The panels have been thru winds over 88mph, hail, ice storms, snow loads of 12-inches, excessive heat (116F) and excessive cold -27F.

They were a USA company. Now an Italian based company and manufacturing.

 

[orezok]

My LG panels are warranted for 25 years with a guaranteed 90.6% efficiency at 25 years. They are gonna last a lot longer than me!

 

[oldnslo]

I have panels still working since 1998 made by Uni-Solar/Ovonics. Still getting the same charge rate performance as the day they were deployed for the past 24 years.

The panels have been thru winds over 88mph, hail, ice storms, snow loads of 12-inches, excessive heat (116F) and excessive cold -27F.

View attachment 728598

They were a USA company. Now an Italian based company and manufacturing.

That is nice to know. Sounds more dependable with less maintenance than windmills. Down side is amount of acreage taken out of production

 

[bmaverick]

All I know is they dont work in the dark and they're BUTT UGLY.

Red neck butt ugly indeed done this way.

Best to have them look like the natural landscape

Mine are like this on the farm, but a bit higher to keep the goats and cattle from climbing up onto it.

 

[Hay Dude]

Why dont they put solar panels on rooftops in the Capital? Beaches at Marthas Vineyard? Mountain sides in Hollywood?
Why does the common folk and their land always have to be experimental or sacrificial?

 

[bmaverick]

Why dont they put solar panels on rooftops in the Capital? Beaches at Marthas Vineyard? Mountain sides in Hollywood?
Why does the common folk and their land always have to be experimental or sacrificial?

No idea. And having the power generated so far away has line looses too. It's best to be very near where the power is generated for the least amount of power looses.

 

[Hay Dude]

No idea. And having the power generated so far away has line looses too. It's best to be very near where the power is generated for the least amount of power looses.

I have an idea….
I bet its because the folks who live there think theyre better than middle of the country people and the middle of the country people should have their landscape polluted with their fantasy energy junk.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Martha's Vineyard has had windmills for years. There are more getting installed off the new England coast.

 

[Hay Dude]

Martha's Vineyard has had windmills for years. There are more getting installed off the new England coast.

I was referring to solar panels
see post #35

 

[Jstpssng]

Rather than tying up new farmland, they should put solar panels on the malls which were put on farmland 40 years ago.
Farms raise plants and/or livestock; electricity is neither of the above.