Baseball-sized hail took out a 5.2-megawatt solar farm in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on Friday, as part of a giant supercell thunderhead that moved across eastern Wyoming and into Nebraska.
  • JaymesRS@midwest.socialEnglish
    6·
    1 year ago

    I’m terrified of what crews will have to go through to mitigate and clean up what will clearly become a massive sunlight leak after this. Do we know how this will impact local groundwater?

    • BitBaum@feddit.deEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      To be fair solar cells are not made of sunshine (ha) and daysies. Glass plastic and aluminum should not be left rotting. But of course you are right there will be next to no impact beside some garbage on some field

  • shanghaibebop@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    Seems like a bit of an oversight to not spec the panels to be extremely hail proof when you’re in the Midwest supercell central.

    • Generic_Handel@kbin.social
      1·
      1 year ago

      A cost study analysis probably showed that baseball sized hail didn’t happen regularly enough to warrant the extra cost compared to changing out some broken panels every X number of years.

      Cost studies aren’t always correct.