How many are ENERGY Farming

[Steppenwolfe]

Farm fields are for browsing and hunting. Woods are for hiding. All I see all day are foxes hawks and eagles hunting in fields. Covering them with solar panels will destroy bird of prey habitats. I would expect eagle and hawk populations to be reduced sharply where large tracts of land are covered in solar panels. Hawks and eagles need open space to spot their prey. Solar farms will make this nearly impossible.

Solar panel fields? Probably not much of anything for wildlife because maintenance will have mowers to keep the lawns cut low under them (and even more CO2 emissions). Maybe deer will hang out under them temporarily, but I’d still rather have a crop farm near me than a solar farm. Just saw this little guy while finishing up today

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Ah... 100% agree with you!

 

[Hay Dude]

Ah... 100% agree with you!

Some people take a lifetime to finally see the light.
Congratulations!

 

[5030]

Ovonics started in the USA back in the 80s by the famous scientist Stanford Ovshinsky. He is the Tesla of our day. He invented the following:

- Nickle Metal Hydride Battery; in laptops, cameras, cell phones, and EV vehicles. GM Impact, Chrysler Epic, and more etc.
- Flexible thin film solar panels. A huge revolution in solar panel technology. Enough to the point that 3D printing them is super EZ.
- flat screen TVs and monitors. Walk into any store with big screens. He made it ALL possible !!!
- rewritable CD & DVDs.
- Hydrogen fuel cells. This is huge. It will replace the stupid EVs with limited range and wait wait wait for the recharge.
- non-volatile phase-change memory. (the most high end computer memory to date)
- 400 patents worldwide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_R._Ovshinsky

Think how our world would be without those items.

When Standford passed on, his company was absorbed by the joint-venture in Italy. And because of favorable tariffs to import solar panels vs. making in the USA, OVNICS US-SOLAR is made over there.
So, my panels have been around since then. Big deal of being out-of-warranty. LOL They are still pumping plenty of juice.

All well and good for a private array but not workable for a commercial one. A commercial array has to produce peak power all during it's life or it becomes non viable.

 

[marhar]

Seems that farmers who can't get crops to turn a good yield or the market isn't paying like it should or weather conditions are difficult to grow hay grasses or droughts, and nobody has the cash to buy all that land, what do you do? Seems ENERGY farming is taking off.

Not just a mere acre or two, we are taking 10's and 100's or acres now being taken up. This means no livestock pastures nor hay fields growing either. Less food production in the USA.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/farmers-across-america-solar-power-may-spell-trouble

Soy and corn are cash crops for the oil and ethanol industry. It's not hard to understand how all that works. Sure the 1,000's of acres or literally thousands of miles in the USA are dedicated to these two crops for industry.
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Yet, another industry is now seeing a huge inroads on taking up much land - - - SOLAR.

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What once was livestock or crop use, has turned into ENERGY uses.

Vermont is one of only 15 states with statewide solar decommissioning requirements, as described in a December 2021 report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Despite the state’s relatively stringent regulation of the energy source, Smith believes the status quo still leaves farmland vulnerable.
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So about 15 states realize how farmland is vital for food and economic welfare to our kitchen tables.

I'm not at all against ENERGY, but big ENERGY farms do raise a concern. My farm uses wind and solar as a supplemental means using very little space as a footprint. It's sad to see pasture and hay fields taken over for ENERGY mass production.

From the 90s till now, much farmland has been taken over and become suburbia. Much of the northeastern states and a huge chunk of OH are now like this. Add in the ENERGY farms to supply power to the suburbia madness and there isn't much of open land any place in those regions.

There are pros/cons to each side of this coin. Awareness helps people to understand a balance is needed and a dynamic approach to solve ENERGY dependencies too.

Let's have a friendly discussion here of how our parts of the country are changing or shaping up in regards to,

ENERGY Farming or Farm for Energy

I too have seen farmland consumed by suburbs. That being said I am interested in placing a restrictive covenant on the farm. I have met with an environmental group that will enforce the covenant after I am gone. I am looking to limit the farm to one additional home only (for the son) and limit the use of the land to farmland and timber. As I understand I can take a tax deduction for the difference in the current value vs the value after the covenant. BTW I am not a tree hugger, I just want to see the farmland stay undeveloped.

 

[bmaverick]

I too have seen farmland consumed by suburbs. That being said I am interested in placing a restrictive covenant on the farm. I have met with an environmental group that will enforce the covenant after I am gone. I am looking to limit the farm to one additional home only (for the son) and limit the use of the land to farmland and timber. As I understand I can take a tax deduction for the difference in the current value vs the value after the covenant. BTW I am not a tree hugger, I just want to see the farmland stay undeveloped.

Or see if your farm passes the hand-me-down laws within a family for 100 years. Then it's a historic farm, BUT you must file it that way before it gets lost.

Centennial Farm Program recognizes farms that have remained in the same family for 100 years or more and highlights the farm's contributions to the state. To qualify, a property must be a working farm of 10 or more acres that has been continuously owned by the same family for at least 100 years.

Then it can't be messed with. Check your state laws on this.

 

[cqaigy2]

All well and good for a private array but not workable for a commercial one. A commercial array has to produce peak power all during it's life or it becomes non viable.

Some of the used panels are from replacement and businesses that have gone out of business. I've bought two 200+ watt panels for $50 a piece for a little project i'm building.

A commercial array has to produce income comparable or beyond what that investment can make in other endeavors. Same with NG power production and i'd assume any economic endeavor, when the maintenance and operation cost are too high, they get shut down.

 

[Hay Dude]

I have some solar powered farm gates in service with 10 watt panels. They work very well. Ive had one in service for over 10 years and aside from replacing the battery 2 or 3 times, it works well.

 

[ruffdog]

Mowing under the solar panels on the farm:

 

[Hay Dude]

Wow, imagine all the carbon release from all that mowing.
I bet all that mowing really draws in the wildlife, too

Wonder if all the mowing and cleaning carbon released into the atmosphere is counted in their claims of “pollution free”?
Somehow, I doubt it.

 

[ruffdog]

As far as cleaning all them panels, there is a whole industry opening up. There are brush and brushless types, and ones with or without people running the machines. There are even robotic cleaners.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Anyone know what the life expectancy is for a solar panel and what percentage of efficiency is lost per year? Durability of panels from hail, wind, heavy wet snow, etc.

what if any are the terms for decommissioning a solar farm?

I haven’t seen any publications on long term disposal or decommissioning. IMHO, the politicians are so gung-ho to move to sun power that they are neglecting the inevitable.

Notice here the key term “may be more difficult”

Solar Panel Recycling | US EPA

Find out how solar panels, a renewable energy waste, are recycled and where to take your end-of-life solar panels for recycling.

www.epa.gov

 

[5030]

Far as I can see, there is no 'crop' being harvested, just a special (and probably costly) lawn mower being used and the second video is pretty neat too but again. the machinery is costly and detracts from the overall profit.

Better to install a solar array on a parking lot and use the panels as shelter like in a previous video.

 

[5030]

I haven’t seen any publications on long term disposal or decommissioning. IMHO, the politicians are so gung-ho to move to sun power that they are neglecting the inevitable.

Notice here the key term “may be more difficult”

Solar Panel Recycling | US EPA

Find out how solar panels, a renewable energy waste, are recycled and where to take your end-of-life solar panels for recycling.

www.epa.gov

... and in most cases, the landowner is on the hook for recycling and removal of the supporting structures too. How most contracts are executed, least around here they are. Why be concerned with it as it won't happen for years, but when it does, I'm sure there will be some very serious whining going on.

 

[5030]

In reality, I don't much care as there will never be any solar on my land so long as I hold the deed to it and I'd say most commenters on this thread don't own enough ground to be concerned anyway. Have a suspicion that a good percentage are suburban dwellers anyway.

 

[Hay Dude]

As far as cleaning all them panels, there is a whole industry opening up. There are brush and brushless types, and ones with or without people running the machines. There are even robotic cleaners.

Sign me up!

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Some people take a lifetime to finally see the light.
Congratulations!

Nah... I already knew that. Glad you agree though!

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Far as I can see, there is no 'crop' being harvested, just a special (and probably costly) lawn mower being used and the second video is pretty neat too but again. the machinery is costly and detracts from the overall profit.

Better to install a solar array on a parking lot and use the panels as shelter like in a previous video.

YES! Put them on top of all those abandoned wallyworld stores, etc.

 

[Hay Dude]

Nah... I already knew that. Glad you agree though!

Remember, it was you that agreed with ME. I dont agree with you on anything, except your admission that youre wrong a lot!

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Remember, it was you that agreed with ME. I dont agree with you on anything, except your admission that youre wrong a lot!

No... my wife say's I'm wrong a lot. Agree with her!

 

[JethroB]

I’ll throw this in to fan the discussion. There were approximately 93 million acres of corn grown in the US last year. About 40% of that production is used to make ethanol, 38% for animal feed.

93 million acres x 40% = 37 million acres, most of which goes into our gas tanks. Food for fuel some call it. Or farming for energy in this thread.