Solar panel siting...

[DodgyGeezer]

I sure that this has been asked before, but I can't find it so.....

I was driving past Bentley a couple of weeks ago and saw their solar-panel-covered car park




It got me to wondering (again!) why on earth we are concreting over large tracts of arable land to site solar panels when there are so many car parks/office-blocks/factories/ etc where these things can be placed without further impacting our (already limited) ability to feed ourselves...

[kambites]

The answer, of course, is money. I'd imagine it's appreciably cheaper to build them at ground level and then cheaper to maintain them once they are built. Farm land is worth bugger all in the grand scheme of things because it's so cheap to import food.

[Night Owl]

kambites said:

The answer, of course, is money. I'd imagine it's appreciably cheaper to build them at ground level and then cheaper to maintain them once they are built. Farm land is worth bugger all in the grand scheme of things because it's so cheap to import food.

Farmers are being targeted by the same people bringing you EVs and 15-min. cities. Because you will own nothing, go nowhere, and eat chem slop.

[DodgyGeezer]

kambites said:

The answer, of course, is money. I'd imagine it's appreciably cheaper to build them at ground level and then cheaper to maintain them once they are built. Farm land is worth bugger all in the grand scheme of things because it's so cheap to import food.

I get that farmland is (in the scheme of things) worth bobbins, but surely car parks/factories/etc, having already been built on, are effectively 'free'? The issue with 'food is cheap to import' is that there may come a time when it's not only no longer cheap to import but, conceivably, impossible to import (war/natural disaster/whatever). Let's be honest, we're all used to 'the great and the good' being useless, feckless morons but even they must realise that if you're already self-sufficient in food production, it's not a great idea to make that situation even worse?

[brillomaster]

I believe farmers are converting fields to solar panels because its more profitable than actually growing crops and selling them.

And when you consider how much cloud the uk gets, makes you realise just how unprofitable growing crops is.

[andrewpandrew]

Night Owl said:

Farmers are being targeted by the same people bringing you EVs and 15-min. cities. Because you will own nothing, go nowhere, and eat chem slop.

You are puddled.

[kambites]

DodgyGeezer said:

Let's be honest, we're all used to 'the great and the good' being useless, feckless morons but even they must realise that if you're already self-sufficient in food production, it's not a great idea to make that situation even worse?

Welcome to capitalism... if you leave things to private industry it should be no surprise that they will do whatever is best for short-term profits.

[Blib]

kambites said:

DodgyGeezer said:

Let's be honest, we're all used to 'the great and the good' being useless, feckless morons but even they must realise that if you're already self-sufficient in food production, it's not a great idea to make that situation even worse?

Welcome to capitalism... if you leave things to private industry it should be no surprise that they will do whatever is best for short-term profits.

We can't expect farmers to produce food at a loss.

[kambites]

Blib said:

We can't expect farmers to produce food at a loss.

No. That's exactly my point.

[RotorRambler]

Night Owl said:

kambites said:

The answer, of course, is money. I'd imagine it's appreciably cheaper to build them at ground level and then cheaper to maintain them once they are built. Farm land is worth bugger all in the grand scheme of things because it's so cheap to import food.

Farmers are being targeted by the same people bringing you EVs and 15-min. cities. Because you will own nothing, go nowhere, and eat chem slop.

I think you may be drifting slightly into conspiracy territory there..

[Pica-Pica]

The land is already/was planned as a car park, so it is not farmland.

[J4CKO]

Night Owl said:

kambites said:

The answer, of course, is money. I'd imagine it's appreciably cheaper to build them at ground level and then cheaper to maintain them once they are built. Farm land is worth bugger all in the grand scheme of things because it's so cheap to import food.

Farmers are being targeted by the same people bringing you EVs and 15-min. cities. Because you will own nothing, go nowhere, and eat chem slop.

You need some counselling mate.