cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/48481513

Solar fences are gaining ground in Europe, as households continue to invest in renewables amid the war on Iran.

  • eleitl@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    16 days ago

    Shading degrades solar module performance, but I was thinking about thrown stones and sctatching with a hard metal bit which immediately destroys the prestressed glass pane only designed to withstand 30 mm hail.

    And I live in a very nice neighborhood. Elsewhere, these things would be destroyed weekly.

    • poVoq@slrpnk.netOPM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      16 days ago

      I don’t know what kind of failed state you live in (Haiti?), but I am near 100% certain that they would be fine in any residential neighbourbood that I previously lived in and that includes places in 3rd world countries. There would be probably a higher risk of them being stolen than intentionally damaged.

    • rainwall@piefed.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      16 days ago

      Most of these fence panels are bi-facial, i.e they have panels on both sides. They catch light reflected from the ground/snow/etc. They cost a bit more than single pane panels, but not a lot more. Like 15-20%.

      You dont get nearly double the power, but they tend to work a bit better then single panels facing the sun because solar panel efficeny degrades with heat. When the sun is at its strongest, traditional roof mount panels take a significant efficiency hit. Because bifacial panels are generally positioned more flexibly, they have much better cooling that compensates for their bad angle.

      Have no idea what you mean about vandalism. I see solar panels all around in various neighborhoods in a big city and they are never damaged. You will likely never have an issue, and even then the individual panels aren’t that expensive to replace. A wood fence would likely cost more to cover the same surface area of one 7ft x4 ft panel.

      • eleitl@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        14 days ago

        Again, you build a public-sidewalk-facing solar module fence, and see how it fares. You’re way mismodeling the incentive and motivation of the human primate to fuck with things just because they’re there and within reach.