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posted by martyb on Thursday October 07 2021, @06:05AM   Printer-friendly
from the cool! dept.

Large scale solar parks cool surrounding land:

The team of scientists, from Lancaster University, Ludong University in China, and the University of California Davis in the USA focused on two large-scale solar parks located in arid locations -- the 300 MW Stateline solar park in California USA, and the 850 MW Longyangxia solar park in China.

The researchers used land surface temperature data derived from Landsat satellite images, an approach not previously applied to solar parks. This enabled the study team to compare the land surface temperatures around solar parks before and after the solar parks were constructed. The satellite data was supplemented by on the ground temperature measurements around Stateline solar park.

They found that the parks produced 'cool islands' extending around 700 metres from the solar park boundaries. The temperature of surrounding land surface was reduced by up to 2.3 ℃ at 100 metres away from the solar park, with the cooling effects reducing exponentially to 700 metres.

This new discovery is important as it shows the solar park could impact ecological processes, including productivity, decomposition, and ultimately the carbon balance, in the surrounding landscape. The scale of effect will depend on the location and could be positive, negative or inconsequential.

[...] The new findings therefore highlight the need for greater consideration to be given to where solar parks are built around the world, as well as their design, to minimise any negative impacts and boost positive effects.

Journal Reference:
Li Guoqing, Rebecca R Hernandez, George Alan Blackburn, et al. Ground-mounted photovoltaic solar parks promote land surface cool islands in arid ecosystems Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition [Open] (DOI: 10.1016/j.rset.2021.100008)


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Thursday October 07 2021, @07:07AM (12 children)

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday October 07 2021, @07:07AM (#1185084) Journal

    That totally makes sense. After all, the sun heats up the environment by the surface converting light into heat (that's why black surfaces heat up more). Solar cells turn a significant fraction of the light into electricity instead. Thus less heat is produced. Of course if the park itself is cooler, heat from the surroundings flows in, effectively cooling the surroundings, too.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:34AM (2 children)

      by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:34AM (#1185110) Journal

      Physics seems to be a lost science. So many things people are just amazed at. Not only this, but fucking magnets, how do they work? Miracles.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by driverless on Thursday October 07 2021, @10:49AM (1 child)

        by driverless (4770) on Thursday October 07 2021, @10:49AM (#1185124)

        Not only this, but fucking magnets, how do they work?

        Something to do with Covid vaccination isn't it?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:45AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:45AM (#1185132)

          I think we need to lockdown until there is a solar vaccine, or at least two weeks to stop the spread.

    • (Score: 2) by helel on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:31AM (4 children)

      by helel (2949) on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:31AM (#1185130)

      I suspect the more important factor is shade. If you're heating up a panel, solar or not, above the ground most of that heat will just enter the air while the ground below receives less light and therefor remains cooler.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @10:48PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @10:48PM (#1185329)

        Nope, this is thermodynamics. There's energy lost to the electricity that's generated, this would happen whether or not there's any shade produced by the equipment. You can't get electricity generated without something else losing energy. In this case, the incoming light. If it were just shade, you would still see indirect heating of the ground from the solar generating equipment.

        • (Score: 2) by helel on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:08PM (2 children)

          by helel (2949) on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:08PM (#1185332)

          So how do you recon shade structures over picnic benches at the park work? They're significantly cooler under than the surrounding area in direct sunlight, and without any electricity generation? Shouldn't that indirect heating mean it's just as hot sitting at a bench as running on the grass?

          • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday October 08 2021, @04:36AM (1 child)

            by maxwell demon (1608) on Friday October 08 2021, @04:36AM (#1185432) Journal

            They didn't measure under the solar cells.

            Next time, try to leave the shade of the picnic bench, but stay a few meters away. Do you still feel that the bench keeps you cool?

            --
            The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
            • (Score: 2) by helel on Friday October 08 2021, @03:59PM

              by helel (2949) on Friday October 08 2021, @03:59PM (#1185549)

              A few feet away you'll feel it. I suspect that if the picnic shade structure was an order of magnitude larger it's area of effect might be as well.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Thursday October 07 2021, @07:08PM (3 children)

      by PinkyGigglebrain (4458) on Thursday October 07 2021, @07:08PM (#1185263)

      Hate to break it to you but solar cells do not "... turn a significant fraction of the light into electricity ...". Most solar cells are only in the 30-40% range, the other 60-70% of the sunlight that hits the cells gets reflected or converted to heat.

      The effects being reported are not because the panels are solar, but because they are shading the ground.

      We would probably see the exact same level of cooling if the solar panels were replaced with sheets of plywood, possibly even more since plywood is lighter in color and would likely reflect more light than a solar panel.

      --
      "Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @09:55PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @09:55PM (#1185315)

        Plus you could burn the plywood to generate electricity.

      • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday October 08 2021, @02:30AM

        by Reziac (2489) on Friday October 08 2021, @02:30AM (#1185391) Homepage

        Having had the misfortune to have a big solar installation built upwind of where I used to live in the desert... I can attest that the main effect was that we no longer got the afternoon and evening cooling (and nighttime condensation that the desert depends on) that had formerly been a reliable feature of the desert climate. So whatever temp may be measured at the facility, it sends a lot of hot air downwind.

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by gawdonblue on Thursday October 07 2021, @07:43AM (3 children)

    by gawdonblue (412) on Thursday October 07 2021, @07:43AM (#1185088)

    ... so you can grow things with less water loss through evaporation. Vegetation also helps provide a cooler space for animals.

    It's a win-win-win.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @01:16PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @01:16PM (#1185152)

      Plants tend to require sunlight.
      Guess what is in short supply below a solar panel.

    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday October 08 2021, @02:32AM

      by Reziac (2489) on Friday October 08 2021, @02:32AM (#1185392) Homepage

      Heh, no. Go take a look at those installations. They're scorched-earth. Nothing grows there.

      The other effect from having one built upwind of me (besides the total loss of afternoon and evening cooling) was that all of a sudden we got tons of blowing dust that we'd never had before.

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:17AM (13 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:17AM (#1185098)

    Solar panels capture solar energy and convert it into electrical energy with excellent efficiency. Solar energy that very likely would have been converted into heat otherwise, when it was absorbed by the ground, roofs, etc. Sounds great, right? But what is that electrical power then used for? It's used to power lights, motors, computers, washing machines, etc. All things electronic. And what do all of these things do with that energy? Ultimately, they all turn it into heat. Back to square one!

    Instead of solar panels, we need to all install mirrors. Mirrors which reflect solar energy into space with excellent efficiency. Now I know what you're about to say, how will I power all my wonderful electronic widgets without solar panel, by burning coal? Well the sad answer for you is that the modern consumerist lifestyle is simply unsustainable. And we certainly can't have 8 billion people living at that 'standard' of consumption. We will have to rethink what it means to have a modern way of life.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:25AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:25AM (#1185103)

      What we need is a gigantic volcanic eruption. Or a dozen.

      Remember Krakatoa? Its eruption brought a minor ice age for a century.

      Let's get going. Blow up the volcanoes. For our kids, grandkids, future generations.

      Let's blow shit up. For the humanity.

    • (Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Thursday October 07 2021, @12:38PM (6 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 07 2021, @12:38PM (#1185144) Journal

      Instead of solar panels, we need to all install mirrors. Mirrors which reflect solar energy into space with excellent efficiency. Now I know what you're about to say, how will I power all my wonderful electronic widgets without solar panel, by burning coal? Well the sad answer for you is that the modern consumerist lifestyle is simply unsustainable. And we certainly can't have 8 billion people living at that 'standard' of consumption. We will have to rethink what it means to have a modern way of life.

      How again do you keep 8 billion poor people from turning into more poor people? The "modern consumerist lifestyle" for all its alleged flaws is negative population growth - in addition to being the best collective human state we've discovered to this point.

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by HiThere on Thursday October 07 2021, @01:44PM (5 children)

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 07 2021, @01:44PM (#1185163) Journal

        While correct, it's still incredibly consuming of resources. I agree with you that it's desirable, but it's not sustainable, while the primitive lifestyle (nearly) is. Of course, it manages that via a high death rate.

        I prefer easy access to birth control, and mandatory birth control until one is "self-supporting", for some measure of self-supporting. That, of course, is politically impossible. So perhaps until the 21st birthday. Or until either marriage or an approved variance. (Marriage is tricky, as many forms of birth control change who you are attracted to.)

        --
        Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
        • (Score: 1, Troll) by khallow on Thursday October 07 2021, @03:15PM (4 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 07 2021, @03:15PM (#1185190) Journal

          While correct, it's still incredibly consuming of resources.

          Well, there's incredible resources out there. I think we got this.

          I think it's telling that the people loudly warning us that we're running out of resources and other things, can't settle on a story, like a resource that we're supposedly running out of. The world just isn't working that way.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:17PM (3 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:17PM (#1185281)

            khallow is rapidly running out of anti-climate change talking points! Someone will have to do something, like radically change their argument strategy, to preserve the khallow way of life! Stop using facts and logic, it is just not fair, given the shortages khallow faces.

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday October 08 2021, @12:46AM (2 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 08 2021, @12:46AM (#1185348) Journal

              khallow is rapidly running out of anti-climate change talking points!

              I never had anti-climate change talking points to start with. So I ran out pretty quick.

              • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @01:32AM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @01:32AM (#1185365)

                hahaha omg loooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday October 08 2021, @03:21AM

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 08 2021, @03:21AM (#1185405) Journal
                  And yet, it's the truth. But you could try pulling my other finger...
    • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday October 07 2021, @12:40PM (1 child)

      by mhajicek (51) on Thursday October 07 2021, @12:40PM (#1185145)

      I'd still rather run an electric motor at around 80% efficiency than use burning gasses to turn a crank at around 40%.

      --
      The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @10:03PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @10:03PM (#1185318)

        Says the Prius owner *rolls coal in your FACE bitch*

    • (Score: 2) by weilawei on Thursday October 07 2021, @05:28PM

      by weilawei (109) on Thursday October 07 2021, @05:28PM (#1185224)

      It's completely sustainable, but requires taking advantage of existing resources (like fissile fuels) and expansion to mine new resources.

      Expand or die. You get wars when people don't have enough for them all to satiate themselves. Want peace? Start settling and mining new regions of the Universe. The material is out there, but all the whiners are, "wah, it's too hard, we should just stay home!"

      Your universe, your call.

    • (Score: 2) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Thursday October 07 2021, @05:40PM

      by Beryllium Sphere (r) (5062) on Thursday October 07 2021, @05:40PM (#1185232)

      It's not your point, but I'll quibble with "great efficiency". 15-20% is typical.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 10 2021, @03:22AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 10 2021, @03:22AM (#1185886)

      This is the sanest thing I've read in a comment section in a long time; hard to believe people go about their daily lives not realizing this very, very simple, fact.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 07 2021, @10:40AM (4 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 07 2021, @10:40AM (#1185123) Journal

    Next obvious question would be, where does that heat go? The answer should be just as obvious. It runs through resistors that power our computers, power our lights, run our electric ranges, power our e-cars, etc etc. That is, we're pumping heat from the desert into the cities.

    So, we still haven't drained the swamp in Washington. Maybe we can boil it dry?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:48AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:48AM (#1185133)

      The photons power the cell, the heat is reflected by the glass or absorbed by the dark plastic. Different wavelength and all.

    • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday October 07 2021, @09:36PM (2 children)

      by krishnoid (1156) on Thursday October 07 2021, @09:36PM (#1185310)

      Good point. It's probably time to retire that expression, considering swamps act somewhat as water quantity/velocity buffers and are more diverse ecosystems than deserts. Plus, you know, non-salt (albeit brackish) water there if you need it.

      It's time to send diversity to Washington to help irrigate the arid wasteland? I mean, it's already something of a sewer, let's start treating the sewage!

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday October 08 2021, @12:40PM (1 child)

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday October 08 2021, @12:40PM (#1185507) Journal

        It's time to send diversity to Washington to help irrigate the arid wasteland? I mean, it's already something of a sewer, let's start treating the sewage!

        The best thing to do with DC is to break its agencies up and disperse them throughout the country. Dept. of the Interior can go to Missouri. Defense can go to Alabama. The IRS can go to the middle of Kansas. Congress can meet in a field in North Dakota. In winter. From there, the agencies can move around every 15 years so no one place has a monopoly forever.

        The Beltway culture is a big part of the problem. They see themselves as masters, and everyone else as serfs. If we force them to live and work among us, that tendency will be curbed.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @01:39PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @01:39PM (#1185520)

          An even bigger part of the problem is the disproportionate influence of minority rule. Gerrymandering and the Electoral College have kept the US under the rule of a shrinking demographic for decades resulting in a minority entitlement mentality where the least populated states live off the welfare of the populous ones (and the lovely kicker is that they also have the temerity to scold the larger states for their fiscal policies). I think gerrymandering has the larger effect, but the minority rulers are the ones to decide whether to fix gerrymandering, so that's not really an option. Changing the effect of the EC is much easier to fix (but not eliminate). The Beltway culture is not due to where they are physically located, but the fact that their districts are gerrymandered so severely that the majority of them have jobs for life. Put common sense into district boundaries, which will make them much more purple, and they'll actually have to compete for their jobs based on things like ideas and policies and compromise. As it is now, they don't have to do shit. For example, Republicans gave up governance decades ago. The only major piece of legislation to have come out of that side of the aisle has been a massive tax cut for the wealthy. Otherwise they let the democrats propose legislation and they sit back and criticize and oppose. If the people in their districts demanded that they actually lead and legislate, they would actually would have to do their jobs (like that "Republican Health Plan" to replace the ACA that as been about two weeks away from being proposed for 12 years now?). That wheelchaired jackass from NC, the first thing he did when he set up his Congressional office was to put ALL of his staff into "media relations" and NONE in legislation, because all he cares about is shitting on Democrat policies on Fox News.

          It has very little to do with being in Washington.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:30AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:30AM (#1185129)

    "solar parks promote land surface cool islands in arid ecosystems"

    Who wudda thought, coverings in a desert cause the ground UNDER them to be cooler?
    Maybe that is why people use umbrellas when walking around in sunny arid places?
    Did we really need a study for this?

    And solar panels are NOT efficient and most certainly produce more ambient heat than they cool under them.
    And any plants that grow around them must be removed so as not to interfere with operation.
    And let's be realistic about the benefits to use ratio of solar...they have a huge carbon footprint to manufacture, maintain and recycle while operating within a limited scope decimating the natural landscape around them.
    And that is not including cables and batteries to capture and connect the farm.

    Sorry to burst the bubble here...solar is not the savior of this planet, perceived cool islands in the Sun or otherwise.

    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:57AM (3 children)

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday October 07 2021, @11:57AM (#1185134) Journal

      Who wudda thought, coverings in a desert cause the ground UNDER them to be cooler?

      This is obviously some strange usage of the word “under” that I wasn't previously aware of.

      From the summary, emphasis by me:

      They found that the parks produced 'cool islands' extending around 700 metres from the solar park boundaries.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @12:15PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @12:15PM (#1185137)

        ok, so 700 meters of fringe land cooling must be dependent on a specific farm size and specific location, (land type, inclination, elevation, vegitation zone).
        Then the next question is, how much air heating do you generate with that 700 meter land cooling?

        Are we not just playing a shell game here?

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:11PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:11PM (#1185176) Journal

          Then the next question is, how much air heating do you generate with that 700 meter land cooling?

          Sounds like they're measuring air temperature with "cooling" indicating not much "heating". Let us also keep in mind that the eventual destination of all heat on Earth is space not air. So it could be a shell game, but need not be one.

      • (Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Thursday October 07 2021, @07:17PM

        by PinkyGigglebrain (4458) on Thursday October 07 2021, @07:17PM (#1185268)

        Simple thermo dynamics Ground heated by direct sunlight loses heat to wind cooled by ground under the panels. You wouldn't see this effect in a vacuum or if the panels were laying flat on the ground..

        --
        "Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @01:49PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @01:49PM (#1185167)

    You can see the problem of putting these anywhere but a desert. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89668/longyangxia-dam-solar-park [nasa.gov]

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday October 08 2021, @12:42PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday October 08 2021, @12:42PM (#1185508) Journal

      Pish posh. Solar panels can go on the roofs of the buildings that already exist. They can cover parking lots, as many newly built such do.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:25PM (#1185179)

    There. I have summarized this and all future articles of its type.
    Do want it worded differently? All living things have an impact on their environment.

  • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday October 07 2021, @09:42PM

    by krishnoid (1156) on Thursday October 07 2021, @09:42PM (#1185311)

    "Hey, it's cooler near here! All you small desert creatures, head on over!"
    WHOOSH
    "Hey, I think the insulation on these cables is also edible! Plus there's condensation on the bottom of these panels at night!"

    Associated Press Release: Solar parks now producing their own proximate ecosystems

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