The whole point of solar energy is to create clean energy in a cost-effective manner. Apparently, that is still not the case.
When the sun is too hot and the panels can’t do their job, which is a complete and total bust.
An expert told Daily Mail, “solar likes sunshine, but it doesn’t like being hot.”
“We always get the best performance in spring when the air is cool, and the sky is really clear,” Professor Alastair Buckey from Sheffield Solar at the University of Sheffield told MailOnline. “We’re very unlikely to see any solar records broken this week – simply because it’s so hot and solar panels are less efficient in the heat.”
Climate change activists tell us that solar will save the planet from overheating…it turns out solar panels are LESS efficient in high temperatures. They are not the solution, they’re inefficient, combust in the heat, slave labour made, need full backup.. https://t.co/H7Wji6gtnE
— Lorraine Allanson (@LorraineAllans1) July 14, 2022
The warning comes after when a fire broke out at a solar farm near Verwood, Dorset in the UK causing part of the 81,400 panels to be damaged.
The fire started while the UK was experiencing a heatwave with temperatures in several regions reaching or even surpassing 95 degrees Fahrenheit, as reported by Yahoo.
More from the Telegraph:
Professor Alastair Buckley, of the University of Sheffield, said: “We never see peak output in mid summer.
“The temperature of the actual solar cell depends on a combination of the ambient temperature and the radiative heating from the sun and also cooling from wind. We saw cell temperatures of 70 degrees yesterday on our test system. Normally it would be between 40 degrees and 50 degrees.”
Tim Dixon, analyst at Cornwall Insight, said: “The efficiency of solar panels is impacted by temperature, with high temperatures above 25 degrees negatively impacting on performance. It is likely that the extreme temperatures have impacted total output levels.”
Chris Hewett, chief executive of industry group Solar Energy UK, said the current weather was “good for solar energy generation” but that the heat “brings down the efficiency of the panels slightly”.
Mr Jackman said that solar panels would be performing better in a heatwave than during a spell of cloudy weather despite their limitations at higher temperatures, and that the technology would normally achieve an average efficiency of around 85pc in a year.
He said: “Obviously this is incredibly unusual, but they are generating about 20pc of the UK grid’s electricity today.
“If it was a cloudy day, they would also be suffering. Losing 5pc of efficiency sounds bad but on a cloudy day you can lose anywhere from 25pc to 66pc depending on how cloudy it is.
“So actually it’s better for it to be too hot than for it to be cloudy.
“They are only at maximum efficiency quite rarely. But who among us is ever at maximum efficiency?”
As reported by Western Journals, Michael D. Shellenberger, an American author and former PR professional who writes about climate change and nuclear energy, revealed that solar panels could “contaminate groundwater with toxic heavy metals such as lead, selenium, and cadmium.”
“People think solar panels protect the environment but they require 300+ times as much land as conventional energy sources and now the Los Angeles Times has discovered that they could “contaminate groundwater with toxic heavy metals such as lead, selenium and cadmium,” he wrote.
“Many are already winding up in landfills, where in some cases, they could potentially contaminate groundwater with toxic heavy metals such as lead, selenium and cadmium.” pic.twitter.com/6w33PtjD9o
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) July 18, 2022
Michael also quoted Sam Vanderhoof, a solar industry expert and chief executive of Recycle PV Solar, saying the business is all about money.
“Sam Vanderhoof, a solar industry expert and chief executive of Recycle PV Solar, says that only 1 in 10 panels are actually recycled.
“The industry is supposed to be green,” Vanderhoof said. “But in reality, it’s all about the money.”https://t.co/e2E0thOwsk
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) July 18, 2022
Thread continues here! https://t.co/l0f4tr7Wsb
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) July 19, 2022
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that a study supported by the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management revealed that the bird population in California declined due to renewable energy facilities.
A group of researchers associated with many institutions in the U.S. conducted a study to assess the vulnerability of populations for 23 priority bird species killed at the wind and solar facilities in California. The study was published in Royal Society Open Science.
According to the study, of the 23 priority bird species killed at solar and wind energy facilities in California, 11 (48%) were either highly or moderately vulnerable, experiencing a greater than or equal to 20% decline in the population growth rates with the addition of up to either 1000 or 5000 fatalities.
