Comment on U.S. solar will pass wind in 2025 and leave coal in the dust soon after
FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 2 weeks agoSolar panels are not the expensive part of using solar to power the country - the storage and transmission is.
Although having said that, the cost of regularly cleaning panels, replacing them, throwing them in landfill, and mining materials to make new ones every 15 years or so is also huge - and destructive to the planet.
DupaCycki@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
True, batteries are quite expensive and very much not environment-friendly when built on such a scale. Though it should be noted good solar panels last longer than 15 years. Even cheap panels can last 20 years.
FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 2 weeks ago
They need regular cleaning otherwise they can very quickly drop to close to zero output, and storms - especially hail - can destroy entire solar farms at once.