“It’s not like the government is forcing you to buy a car!”

If you live in a city with parking minimums, yes they fucking are.

  • @[email protected]
    3•1 month ago

    I live in a country with a propensity for dark cement tiles, i really doubt panels are causing an uptick in heat

    • @douglasg14b
      0•1 month ago

      I live in a country with a propensity for dark cement tiles, i really doubt panels are causing an uptick in heat

      Of course they are (having an effect) why wouldn’t they?

      Any change in albedo modifies how much radiation is absorbed and emitted and the wavelengths it’s emitted at.

      Sure one tile doesn’t do much but it does do something by a measurable degree. Even if tiny, it’s still quantifiable.

      • @[email protected]
        3•1 month ago

        So you’re telling me if I have a house that’s entirely covered in dark cement tiles but put solar panels up my microclimate temperature would rise?

        • @douglasg14b
          -2•1 month ago

          Cities for example have their own microclimate partially because of the change in albedo.

          You’re literally talking about something that is well known well documented and well understood and has been for decades.

          If you change the albedo of a surface that surface changes it’s absorption of solar radiation. That surface will be warmer or cooler in the Sun. As a fundamental concept (ignoring more exotic materials and concepts). This means that that surface contributes or detracts from the climate in various ways.

          I don’t know what’s so difficult about this :/

          If you cover the entire country of Australia with black tiles do you really expect that there would be absolutely no change or difference than if you cover the entire country of Australia with white tiles?

          • @[email protected]
            2•1 month ago

            Are you actually reading what i am saying?

            I mocked the impact of solar panels on “heating the planet” compared to the sheer amount of dark roofing surfaces in my country. It’s a fair call.

            The albedo of a solar panel is around 0.1 (90% absorption) BUT not all the sunlight energy absorbed by a panel is converted into heat. Call it 20% efficiency, 10% reflection, 70% left to end up as heat. That’s less than grass or bare soil.

            What is the albedo of a black cement roofing tile?

            What effect on the surrounding microclimate will having solar panels overshadow these tiles have?