Solar Panels for farms 2

[lukedesira]

How much of a good idea do you think that solar panels are good to water the crops in a field?

I think its great as when it is sunny, the pv cell will generate enough power to water the crops, and when it is not sunny(possible raining) the fields would require less watering..

am i forgetting something? what are your ideas?

thanks and regards
Luke from malta(eu)

 

[KiwiMace]

I was looking at a system like this over the weekend located in the Channel Islands. The electrical components were by a company called Outback Power Systems. They had roughly 48 sqft of panels, 48 batteries, and dual electrical and controls. Not sure of the power output of the system though unfortunately.

I think that a solar charged battery and inverter system is a fine way to gain some independance from the grid. But if you have access to the grid, it is a hard decision to spend the money required to break away from it, and requires commitment to the maintenance.

 

[BigInch]

Tie into the grid and use a netback meter. If that is allowed by the local utility, you sell any excess electricity to them and take when gen capacity is down. You then only pay for the net electricity you use. It also saves the batteries for times when you really need them.

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I suggest all remaining myoptics reading this thread catch up on some news and have a read of this AIChE mag article here,

Grand Challenges for Engineering
Twentieth-century engineering enabled life as we know it. The National Academy of Engineering looks at what is needed in the future.

http://www.aiche.org/uploadedFiles/CEP/Issues/2008-04/040811.pdf

http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com

"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, its what we know for sure" - Mark Twain

 

[UBbaja]

I agree that we need to be mindful of the "big picture" when engineering solutions to teh problems we encounter. Sure you are not going to sell design A that costs 300% more than design B just because design A reduces energy consumption by 10% over design B, but we need to keep in mind that it is everyone's responsibilty to help do what we can, if option B exists it should be at least looked into.

 

[BJC]

The defination of a good engineer: "Someone who can do for a dollar what anyone else can do for two."
It may be fun and green to irrigate a crop with a solar power system but your own may be the only one you will do. Most people (especially real farmers who are in it to make a living. ) would rather spend the one dollar and keep the other one.

 

[peebee]

Re: "It may be fun and green to irrigate a crop with a solar power system but your own may be the only one you will do. Most people (especially real farmers who are in it to make a living. ) would rather spend the one dollar and keep the other one."

There are more and more LEED-rated buildings going up all the time. LEED often involves additional costs. Turns out that in some peoples minds, there actually is a value associated with saving the environment, reducing global warming, etc -- a value they'd even cough up a few bucks to help pay for. Similarly, the Prius seems to be a pretty hot car right now, despite being more expensive than other non-hybrid cars (and even despite the environmentally ugly batteries that it contains).

I certainly agree that it would be unethical to "sneak" energy-saving ideas into a project without first discussing with the client. But I believe it is also unethical to assume that no rational client would ever pay for environmentally-friendly installations and to assume that no-one would ever find any merit in any sustainable design that had any additional financial cost associated with it.