Howard_T

Why Pennsylvania's Solar Plans Create Questions

A 100 - by - 100 mile solar array in the Nevada desert probably could produce enough power to supply the entire US. There are a couple of things here that are overlooked. Most important are some very inconvenient things called transmission lines and Ohms Law. In order to get the power from Nevada to my home here in southern NH, you will need to move it about 2,000 miles. That means you will have to overcome the losses in a lot of wire. Even the best copper wire has some loss due to impedance, and the longer the wire, the more the loss. You can place transformer substations at intervals to boost your voltage back up, but these are not 100% efficient. In other words, until someone can invent a lossless method of power transmission, only a very small percentage of what is generated in Nevada will ever reach NH. The rest will be spent in line losses.

The second part of the problem has to do with the very people who are pushing alternate energy in order to save the environment. If you have ever been to the Nevada desert (as I have on many occasions), you would understand that it is not a place of sterile sand dunes. There is an important ecosystem here that will be ruined by the building of a giant solar array. The desert is home to a great variety of plants and animals that cannot survive anywhere else. Which side of the dilemma will the environmentalists support? I can see the problem leading to a fracture within the ranks of the "greens".

A note here: substitute wind farm for solar array, and the same problems remain. Ask the Audubon Society about the threat to migratory and native bird species that is posed by the wind turbines.