Switzerland bolted 5,000 solar panels onto a dam wall 8,000 feet up in the freezing Alps where everyone said solar made no sense, and the plant now makes three times more winter power than any farm down in the valleys
www.ecoportal.net
High in the Swiss Alps, on a concrete dam wall more than 8,000 feet above the sea, someone bolted thousands of solar panels to a place almost no one thought

Up on the dam, almost everything that looks like a problem becomes an advantage.

The plant sits above the fog line, in thin, clear air that lets far more sunlight through.

The higher you go, the stronger and cleaner the sunlight becomes.

Cold actually helps, because solar panels work more efficiently when they are not baking in heat.

And then there is the snow, which acts like a giant mirror, bouncing extra light up onto the panels from below.

Scientists call it the albedo effect, and it can lift a mountain plant’s output well beyond anything possible in the valley.

A test site at a similar height recorded yearly output far above a typical Swiss plant.

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.worldEnglish
    647·
    13 days ago

    …the assumption was simple, that solar belongs low and warm, on sunny roofs and flat fields, not up in the freezing thin air of the mountains.

    Well that’s a stupid assumption. what other kind of electronic works better when it’s super hot??

    The country makes plenty of power in summer, but runs short in winter, when demand climbs and it has to import electricity.

    That gap is set to grow as the nation closes its nuclear plants.

    Damn, two stupid ideas from the Swiss. At least the fabled “someone” put those solar panels up there. 🙄

    • Randelung@lemmy.worldEnglish
      171·
      13 days ago

      Yeah, the fears about nucular are global I’m afraid. The Swiss decided 40 years ago that they would no longer invest in nuclear energy and massively reduce upkeep on the existing reactors, thereby making issues a self fulfilling prophecy. Most of the reactors have now reached their end of life, if not ten years ago. So turning them off is really a necessity, but building new ones now would be stupid.

    • wewbull@feddit.ukEnglish
      142·
      13 days ago

      Nuclear plants have a limited life time. You have to replace what ages out, and they haven’t been. Probably because they decided that the cost didn’t make sense anymore in the face of renewables.

      • MangoCats@feddit.itEnglish
        61·
        13 days ago

        Probably because they decided that the cost didn’t make sense anymore in the face of renewables.

        The political costs of nuclear power are astronomical. Safety regulation is A) a very good idea, but B) grossly overblown and C) outrageously costly to implement to the levels NIMBYs demand. Satisfying them that a windmill isn’t going to fall over and kill them is a lot easier.

      • 0x0@lemmy.zipEnglish
        11·
        12 days ago

        The grid still needs baseline power when renewables aren’t renewing.

        • inari@piefed.zipEnglish
          21·
          12 days ago

          Baseline power has become an outdated concern thanks to renewables.

          • 0x0@lemmy.zipEnglish
            1·
            12 days ago

            Go look up baseline power, or whatever the technical term for grid stability is.

            • inari@piefed.zipEnglish
              21·
              12 days ago

              What grids value more these days is easily dispatchable power. Sources that you can turn on and off easily to respond to market conditions.

      • luciferofastora@feddit.orgEnglish
        6·
        13 days ago

        I agree with you, content-wise, but there’s no need to insult people. It provokes emotions that add nothing reasonable and productive.

        Let’s work together on a better, kinder world <3

      • gian @lemmy.grys.itEnglish
        51·
        13 days ago

        Yep, but require much more space. And it could be not available when you need it.

        • vandsjov@feddit.dkEnglish
          2·
          12 days ago

          Try slapping a nuclear plant on the side of a dam :) Solar can be installed so many places but of cause, needs help (like batteries, wind turbines, other power generation) to deliver power when the sun is not around.

      • oce 🐆@jlai.luEnglish
        2·
        13 days ago

        What’s your source? Solar panels certainly are much easier and cheaper to setup, but what about over 40 years (average age of reacrors in France)?

      • Ninjasftw@lemmy.worldEnglish
        44·
        13 days ago

        So you’re happy to go without power after sunset then?
        Until we have more storage options or diversified sources then that’s what you get. Or do you think it will all happen by magic?
        Maybe try being less rude unless you have a solution that doesn’t just involve wishful thinking.

          • Ninjasftw@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            13 days ago

            Ffs this is exactly what I mean… To power Switzerland for only 6 hours (38GWh), you would need approximately 30,000 to 35,000 utility-scale batteries. Where and how exactly are you building them?

            • Ghoelian@piefed.socialEnglish
              2·
              12 days ago

              Not a problem if you have your own panels and your own battery.

              I’m not a city planner so i dont know where they’d go if you want to support the whole country, maybe ask one of them?

              Also, you don’t need to immediately take over the electricity of the whole damn country. Just start with one battery park somewhere, that already helps somewhat, and build out from there.

            • karlhungus@lemmy.caEnglish
              1·
              12 days ago

              Must solve all problems at the same time for entire country, can’t possibly wind things down while building up alternatives. Only good solution is nuclear, ignore all previous nuclear issues, they were one offs that only happened because people were stupid. We now smart humans will never have stupid or corrupt people.

              Really I don’t even dislike nuclear, some people treat it as the only option when there are clearly alternatives, and solar and batteries appears to be one.

        • yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          3·
          13 days ago

          Supply controlled energy grid.

          Money is extremely good at influencing energy demand. If your power bill increases tenfold per kwh at night then you will do your laundry during the day when it’s cheap. It only requires smart electric meters which are starting to be the norm.

          Electric cars can further function as home batteries if they support bidirectional charging.

          • Commuting4375@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            12 days ago

            Ah yes, the abstinence technique. Brilliant.

            I for one like the ability to heat my home at night in the winter, not have it be >30°C inside in the summer (system has to catch up at night), keep my living space at a reasonable humidity, cook food, and use modern amenities without incurring a ridiculous cost.

            There’s no other way to cut it. We will need more electrical capacity than today, not less.

            • yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
              1·
              12 days ago

              Why would you be heating at night?

              Like seriously, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t turn their heating significantly down before going to bed. You only need to heat the bedrooms which are also generally colder.

              Same with air conditioning. It’s primarily needed when it’s actually hot, which - as it turns out - is when the sun is shining and energy prices are low.

              Besides: It completely ignores decentralized energy storage. Households with batteries can just let them charge when energy prices are low and discharge when prices are high.

              There’s a reason smart meters are starting to be mandated. People will need to adjust their habits slightly¹ but that’s just the price to pay for sustainable energy.

              ¹Like very slightly. As in checking the energy price forecast before doing laundry.

              Edit: A couple basic introductions to the topic to read up on if you’re interested:

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter (also read up on AMI)

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_grid