How many are ENERGY Farming

[jk96]

Roof mounted solar panels make a lot of sense to me. My neighbor thought so too 8 years ago when he installed them. He changed his mind last year after he developed a roof leak. He had to dismantle the panel mounts to get to the leak and then found the installation voided the 40 year warranty on his shingles.

It got worse when the roofers broke one of the solar panels. The company that made them went out of business and he couldn't get a replacement to fit the roof mount. His once sleek looking roof now looks like the dog's breakfast. He now figures it will take almost 100 years for the installation to pay for itself.

Current payback on average for a turn key install in my area is about 12 years so hard to see how his payback jumped to 100. With that said I would never do a roof install on anything other than metal and that would only be if a ground mount wasn't feasible.

 

[mcfarmall]

When will people realize that the green agenda has more to do with population control than saving the earth? Reduce the number of peasants so that the planet can become the playground of the wealthy.

 

[ljjhouser]

Interesting discussion. It really does show how solutions and the impact of actions require a lot of consideration. The impact reducing fossil fuels? How best to do that? How do we endure the weight of adding to a already overloaded electrical grid which already has brown outs.

Any now another important issue. As we push farming methods harder and harder to provide more per acre, how long can we convert our farmlands to something other than producing foods. I think we sometimes forget the cost and work to clear and care for land to get food production to the levels of today.

Interesting thoughts and discussion. And another thought - dare I say it? The population explosion of the last 100 years may be an issue that may have to be discussed. And no one will like that. Other countries have been there. In science, we must remember - every ecosystem has limiting factors. Some of which lead to population kills.

Some to the practices we are doing today may bring about a lot of discussion of other issues.

 

[ljjhouser]

I can think of nothing more exciting that getting government more involved in making decisions on your private land. A community based solar or wind operation.

 

[MossRoad]

I'd bet you'd get a much more diversified flora and fauna under solar panels than you'd get in a cornfield.

 

[ruffdog]

Corporate control of more and more land is greater of a concern to me. Be it solar panels or corporation owned mega farms. The ability for a family to make a living on a small farm is getting harder all the time. We are going down the path that will end up having a few people owning the land and everyone else depending on their food.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Current payback on average for a turn key install in my area is about 12 years so hard to see how his payback jumped to 100. With that said I would never do a roof install on anything other than metal and that would only be if a ground mount wasn't feasible.

I think my neighbor was exaggerating a bit with his statement. The original payback was 25 years when the system was installed. I'm not sure what the broken solar panel actually cost. It's also hard to estimate what the loss of the shingle warranty is. I do know he had to pay $900 in 2019 to replace a rectifier which was burned out by lightning. It didn't make the deductible on his homeowners insurance so it was an out of pocket expense.

Another payback factor for him was the actual market value of the S recs he earns from the system. They were overestimated by the company that did the install. I don't know the actual numbers but he claims he's getting a little more than half what they used to calculate the payback.

 

[MossRoad]

Corporate control of more and more land is greater of a concern to me. Be it solar panels or corporation owned mega farms. The ability for a family to make a living on a small farm is getting harder all the time. We are going down the path that will end up having a few people owning the land and everyone else depending on their food.

It's one of the reasons we have a garden.

 

[Hay Dude]

I'd bet you'd get a much more diversified flora and fauna under solar panels than you'd get in a cornfield.

Ok I thought the comparison was being made as to vacant land with weeds abandoned by farmers? That is very rich in wildlife.

As a farmer you’d be shocked as to how much wildlife I see in farm fields. Deer, fox, eagles, hawks, pheasant, turkey, you name it.
I know what I’d rather have in my neighborhood.….
You want the solar panels??? you go ahead…..I’ll take the crops.
Heck people plant corn here just to attract deer

 

[Hay Dude]

Corporate control of more and more land is greater of a concern to me. Be it solar panels or corporation owned mega farms. The ability for a family to make a living on a small farm is getting harder all the time. We are going down the path that will end up having a few people owning the land and everyone else depending on their food.

So when subsidies promote the easier use of property for solar farms than hay fields, you better get concerned. It’s probably already at that point.
Highest and best use. Let’s hope Conservancies prevail and get the more pristine land locked up and unable to be developed.