This story is NUTSO. Who knew that a Canadian inventor had created working solar panels as early as 1905 – and that him being KIDNAPPED is what possibly derailed the evolution of solar tech for decades?
(I thought the story might be exaggerating that last point until I saw the kidnappers' conditions for his release... 😲)
No need to clear new land for solar power. Panels can coexist with agriculture, and even help it since many crops thrive in partial shade and/or benefit from water retention under the panels.
“Maize is grown by about 50% of farmers in Tanzania. Maize is also a sun loving plant. So the fact that we had an 11% yield increase in maize [under solar panel arrays] is a phenomenal result,” he said.
When you think you know 20th-century #energy history fairly well, and then @sugandhasri digs up the story of Canadian inventor George Cove, who invented 'modern' solar panels in 1905: "Then, on 19 October 1909, Cove was kidnapped. The condition for his release required forgoing his solar patent and shutting down the company."
Six Flags Magic Mountain in California is building a massive canopy of solar panels over its 30-acre parking lot that will power all of the rides and offset 100% of the amusement park’s energy usage while providing shade to the cars parked beneath.
When completed, it will be California’s largest solar energy project & the world’s largest renewable energy site built by a for-profit organization.
With the media so obsessed with the eventual "waste" from green energy production - end of life solar panels, turbine blades, batteries etc, wouldn't it be great if they provided context?
There are 9000 oil tanker ships on the planet. 10s of thousands of petrol trucks. 10s of thousands of petrol stations. 10s of thousands of miles of pipeline.
All of which are environmentally damaging to dispose of.
Yet, never discussed in the media. Its just the green boogeyman.
#Space tip: if you’re ever lost in the inner #solar system, you can just type out the phrase “Optimistic #Aliens measure space typographically” in times new roman and use the dots as a #map
Im #Wetterbericht im niederländischen Fernsehen gibt es jetzt eine Vorhersage der Sonnen- und Windenergie und eine Übersicht wann der Strom für Verbraucher:innen mit flexiblen Verträgen am billigsten ist.
Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Iceland, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo produced more than 99.7 per cent of the electricity they consumed using #geothermal, #hydro, #solar or #wind power.
A solar developer sent a state lands archaeologist a string of urgent text messages, which we obtained through a public records request, insisting that she keep her findings private and not share them with tribes.
But when his texts reached the state lands archaeologist, she was already at Badger Mountain --- showing her findings to a tribal representative.
in 2013, coal generated 175 times as much electricity as #solar power in the US. Within a decade, in 2022, coal was generating less than 5 times as much electricity (incl. estimated rooftop solar).
So far this year, coal has generated slightly more than twice as much electricity as all solar.
How to Build a Small Solar Power System - #lowtechmagazine just released an extensive, accessible, beginner friendly guide on solar system, small scale!
Happy to have contributed illlustrations, pictures and feedback to this new article. It will be a great base for upcoming workshops and prototypes.
I decided to roll the dice, that my CV joint on my car wouldn't blowup, for a run up north out of city lights to see the aurora--& I'm so glad I did! Two shots from northern California: First is from Doyle & the second is from Frenchman Lake. What an amazing display! For a time the aurora covered a 180 degrees from east to west & was overhead & could be seen in the south! I shot these photos with a 15mm f/2.0 30sec ISO400.
'South Australia is ahead of other states in Australia and the world, at least for grids of its size. The last coal generator was shut in 2016, the remaining gas plants no longer operate in “baseload” mode, and battery storage – first introduced in 2017 – is now rapidly expanding.'
Ich verkaufe meine Guerilla-Solarinsel, weil bei uns endlich #Balkonsolar erlaubt ist.
Systemspannung: 12 V
Leistung 260 Wp
Akku: 128 Ah
Für Leute mit Einkommen gilt der ebay-Marktwert als VB. Alternativ akzeptiere ich auch eine gute Story, weswegen genau du die Anlage brauchst (Ökoprojekt, Waldbesetzung, dir wurde der Strom abgeklemmt etc).