kamoylan

kamoylan t1_ive76p2 wrote

What is the total cost of ownership?

$1/watt in a field. Does that also include:

  • Aquiring the land?
  • Changing the land to suit the solar power? (e.g. changing the crop to not shade the cells, clearing trees, etc.)
  • Building the electricity transmission lines to where it'll be used?

$2.50 - $3/watt on a rooftop. The points above are already paid for (maybe electricity infrastructure needs upgrading).

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kamoylan t1_ivdk3r8 wrote

Rooftop is better than in desert because:

  • Rooftops are already built environment. There is no ecological cost vs the ecological damage for installing solar in a desert.
    (A desert might be barren to us, but many creatures live there.)

  • The infrastructure for moving electricity in urban and suburban areas is already there. It might need modifying to cope with the changed loads caused by electricity flowing in from houses rather than out to houses, but there won't be the need for new, large electricity transmission lines.

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