• US town rejects solar panels amid fears they 'suck up all the energy from the sun'
    66 replies, posted
[quote]Jane Mann, a retired science teacher, said she was concerned the panels would prevent plants in the area from photosynthesizing, stopping them from growing.[/quote] Just like parking lots and roads already do except they don't grow anything but a weed here and there.
[QUOTE=Jonzky;49313947]They're is obviously stupid but I've always kinda wondered - energy is conserved so are there unforeseen reactions to harvesting renewable energy?[/QUOTE] Yes - It is slightly less warm beneath solar cells because they absorb the sunlight instead of the ground beneath them, and it is slightly less windy behind windmills because you are behind a large object and in cover of the wind. Truthfully, a disaster.
[QUOTE=St33m;49313654][img]http://www.datanami.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/caveman.png[/img] Picture of the science teacher in question[/QUOTE] We have a development in the story, Ms. Jane Mann released the [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiwXKG5BpKY]Following statment[/url] to the media. Wherein she urges us to see things from her perspective.
[QUOTE=OvB;49314135]I've heard someone say wind farms are going to cause more wind.[/QUOTE] Well yeah, think about it. Corn farms grow corn. Potato farms grow potatoes. Dairy farms produce milk. Wind farms ______ ?
[QUOTE=Combine 177;49313807]Makes you wonder if anyone have had the idea that we should send rockets full of fuel into the sun so we can keep the sun going.[/QUOTE] Pretry sure thats not how it works... Hope the man inside the sun doesnt dies... What if the lightbulbs weren't changed like they are on a daily basis! Night forever!
[QUOTE=OvB;49314135]I've heard someone say wind farms are going to cause more wind.[/QUOTE] No, wind farms will blow the Earth out of its orbit [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0UkH81NMTo[/media]
I feel embarassed for every american who has to live in the same country as these mongoloids.
[t]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RfaABB3mxSE/UlXHzf9bY3I/AAAAAAAAPh4/UD5sbfBMToc/s1600/CongressmanBartonOnWindPower.jpg[/t] Are these two friends?
[QUOTE=Jonzky;49313947]They're is obviously stupid but I've always kinda wondered - energy is conserved so are there unforeseen reactions to harvesting renewable energy?[/QUOTE] I don't think it's any different than there not being any solar panels, the only difference is instead of solar panels absorbing heat, it's the ground that does.
[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;49314296]No, wind farms will blow the Earth out of its orbit [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0UkH81NMTo[/media][/QUOTE] That gives me an idea. Let's build more wind farms and propel the earth like a giant spaceship. Conceptually that sounds pretty dope.
You guys got fooled. The town rejected the solar panels because they've already accepted three other solar farms and they will not receive any benefit to the city from this additional farm. The media's latching onto this clickbait title for views, and the article never even stated the real reason the town rejected the proposal.
[QUOTE=Zombie_2371;49313702]Think about this: This "teacher" was teaching the next generation of america.[/QUOTE] Let's just hope the teacher teaching sex ed wasn't that moronic.
[QUOTE=kweh;49314266]Pretry sure thats not how it works... Hope the man inside the sun doesnt dies... What if the lightbulbs weren't changed like they are on a daily basis! Night forever![/QUOTE] I thought that it was powered by a gigantic hamster on an even bigger wheel?
[QUOTE=DinoJesus;49314537]That gives me an idea. Let's build more wind farms and propel the earth like a giant spaceship. Conceptually that sounds pretty dope.[/QUOTE] Propel the earth slightly further from the sun and the temperatures will drop. Global warming : fixed.
[QUOTE=Lyokanthrope;49313627]How the FUCK does a 'science teacher' fail to realize that correlation != causation[/QUOTE] The real question is, how the fuck science teacher has absolutely no idea about science.
[QUOTE=Dark RaveN;49314593]The real question is, how the fuck science teacher has absolutely no idea about science.[/QUOTE] That one is fairly easy - This is the country where some states are allowed to teach Creationism as part of the science curriculum.
guys, stop using solar panels they use the energy from the sun. The sun expels energy and can not get it back if we use solar panels. hahaha what the hell
dumb clickbait
When I first read the title of this thread I thought an onion article somehow accidentally got on here.
I read on another site that the town already has three solar plants but is declining as people move out, and support for the solar plant would be on their dime (it's their management jurisdiction) but outside the limits of where they can collect tax. So the proposal was for a solar plant that they would have to fund and support but wouldn't give them any tax revenue, to provide additional power for a town that if trends continue wouldn't need it. But let's not share that- just take a quote from some random dumbass and imply that it's the official position of the god-fearin' science-distrustin' Southerners (hyuck hyuck). God, I am getting so sick of American journalism. The original article that The Independent is running with spends more time talking about the useless opinions of random people at the meeting than about the actual reasons for the decision. Edit: Not to imply that non-American journalism is any better considering the British source in the OP left out all the reasons entirely so they could make a cheap 'look how dumb americans are!!!' shot.
[QUOTE=Dark RaveN;49314593]The real question is, how the fuck science teacher has absolutely no idea about science.[/QUOTE] Very easily, actually. At least in the US, those aiming to become teachers don't get (or at least, don't have to) get degrees in the subjects they are aiming to teach. Most degree programs focus on "how to teach" rather than "what to teach". On top of that, teachers applying to schools for jobs usually don't get into the subject that they [I]did[/I] go to college for (though most schools try to get them into similar fields). In high school, I had a gym teacher who went to college to become an English teacher and a math teacher who went to college to become a history teacher. More often than not you'll find American teachers explaining to our kids a subject they either don't know about or didn't really want to teach.
If anything, it's wasting it if you /aren't/ using solar panels
[QUOTE=AWildZangoose;49316629]If anything, it's wasting it if you /aren't/ using solar panels[/QUOTE] Not entirely. The biggest disadvantage of using solar panels, particularly private home ones, is the batteries. Battery technology for holding the stored energy during nightfall or bad weather days hasn't caught up with solar panels just yet. It's incredibly expensive to purchase solar cell batteries to replace ones that burn out and over time possibly can make the whole investment a financial bust rather than boost for a private home. I did however read an article a few months ago, either on Popular Science or some other magazine, that it is hoped that these will improve and "catch up" by 2025 and thus make it more economic beneficial for homeowners to invest in solar cells. But that's still a whole decade away.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;49316715]Not entirely. The biggest disadvantage of using solar panels, particularly private home ones, is the batteries. Battery technology for holding the stored energy during nightfall or bad weather days hasn't caught up with solar panels just yet. It's incredibly expensive to purchase solar cell batteries to replace ones that burn out and over time possibly can make the whole investment a financial bust rather than boost for a private home. I did however read an article a few months ago, either on Popular Science or some other magazine, that it is hoped that these will improve and "catch up" by 2025 and thus make it more economic beneficial for homeowners to invest in solar cells. But that's still a whole decade away.[/QUOTE] I really don't buy this mess. You have all the space in the world for solar batteries, so just use molten salt batteries. Lower energy density, but they are cheap and incredibly simple to construct. You have to monitor their temperature, but that is trivial with a temperature sensor and some software to tell it when it needs to start discharging in order to boost the temp. They have extremely long lifespans too. Can beat the crap out of them.
[QUOTE=dragon1972;49314543]You guys got fooled. The town rejected the solar panels because they've already accepted three other solar farms and they will not receive any benefit to the city from this additional farm. The media's latching onto this clickbait title for views, and the article never even stated the real reason the town rejected the proposal.[/QUOTE] Uh-- most of us are mad over this woman claiming everything from "solar panels cause cancer" to "they'll kill plants by preventing them from photosynthesizing". So no, we didn't "get fooled". The woman in question is an idiot, or she's just old and senile, and that's that. Rejecting them on the grounds of taxes and efficiency (they're not necessary for this town anymore, as the article outlines)? Sensible. On the grounds that they'll cause people to get cancer and die and will kill plants by somehow preventing them from carrying out photosynthesis? Retarded.
I can understand rejecting a proposal like this if it would be a legit detriment to the community...more costly to maintain, for example, or perhaps the plan put in place to install them would cause pollution or some shit like that...but 'because they suck up all the energy from the sun' is laughable. The sun produces so much energy that we literally cannot use up one tenth of one percent of a day's output over the course of an entire year. A few solar panels are gonna put such a small dent in things that it's practically impossible to even calculate it. Fuck off ya morons. Find a legit reason to call for the proposal's denial or let it go through.
I understand why the American education system needs attention now, It needed attention in 1962 and it still needs attention now.
[QUOTE=GunFox;49316785]I really don't buy this mess. You have all the space in the world for solar batteries, so just use molten salt batteries. Lower energy density, but they are cheap and incredibly simple to construct. You have to monitor their temperature, but that is trivial with a temperature sensor and some software to tell it when it needs to start discharging in order to boost the temp. They have extremely long lifespans too. Can beat the crap out of them.[/QUOTE] Think he's talking specifically about private homeowners, who don't have all the space in the world.
[QUOTE=elowin;49320731]Think he's talking specifically about private homeowners, who don't have all the space in the world.[/QUOTE] I mean compared to portable lithium powered devices. A cabinet in the garage roughly the height of a person is likely going to house enough power for a home. Could even mount it outside or in the crawl space under the home. You could even mostly bury the things.There is a wide variety of spots you could place the battery bank.
[QUOTE=GunFox;49320832]I mean compared to portable lithium powered devices. A cabinet in the garage roughly the height of a person is likely going to house enough power for a home. Could even mount it outside or in the crawl space under the home. You could even mostly bury the things.There is a wide variety of spots you could place the battery bank.[/QUOTE] That's still taking up quite a bit of space, and in my experience most people's homes are already overly cluttered. Unless you bury it, I suppose, but that's more effort than most people are willing to put into it, I think.
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