Recent comments in /f/Maine

Numerous_Vegetable_3 t1_jd8xx0y wrote

Reply to comment by DamienSalvation in Maine's Energy future by mainething

Maintenance is needed once a year for inspection and cleaning, and in most cases they're inspected and passed and no other action is needed. Also, there are applications that will tell you exactly what panel is down, so you can go straight there, fix it, and be done. People wouldn't need to be walking around checking them, they would get an alert about a panel and go investigate.

You should really research these things instead of coming up with reasons just because you don't like it. It's really disheartening that most people can't be bothered to learn new things.

Do you really thing maintaining a gigantic hydro or coal power plant would be cheaper than going and checking panels that tell you exactly where to check?

4

HIncand3nza t1_jd8xf3h wrote

Reply to comment by hike_me in Huge National Park suggested for around Katahdin. by Camooses

Zion isn’t even worth going to. It is absolutely insane. I thought I could sneak in at the crack of dawn and see some stuff but it was already packed. It was May too.

Arches has the potential to show that the restricted access model works. I went last year and it wasn’t too bad. Still very busy but not a complete mad house like Zion. You could actually see things and get away from crowds.

1

3490goat t1_jd8wwdd wrote

Reply to comment by ghostsintherafters in Maine's Energy future by mainething

I think the fact that is has worked well for other countries is the best reason to take a good look at the idea. The reality of American excellence has faded over time and we should start again to incorporate great ideas from other countries that work better. America has been surpassed in many areas in the last 40 years and we need to catch up on technology and infrastructure

40

PlentyCommission166 t1_jd8wtpc wrote

Reply to comment by OurWhoresAreClean in Maine's Energy future by mainething

Everything counts in large amounts. If there's a little snow or it's not completely covered, you still get some power. If they're completely covered by several feet, they don't generate power.

But there's a couple ways they can still work: 1) angled arrays that snow slides off and 2) this neat new idea called a bifacial array. Bottom side collects light scattered off the ground snow and generate power. Top melts faster too because the electricity warms the panel.

5

saigonk t1_jd8vx6n wrote

Reply to Maine's Energy future by mainething

The maximum voltage underground is way less than overhead, so that means it takes more lines and more conduits to feed more power I believe it is like 70kv vs 400kv so there's that part.

​

Thats a huge, and I mean HUGE expenditure before you even move one ounce of electricity, and with pre-existing lines it makes no sense to do that based on cost alone. Now you want to add in the infrastructure of all that solar in the middle of the highway?

Mainers love the idea of underground power, hell I have it in my neighborhood, but I also have a pole at the corner of our road that ties into other poles. Trenching underground is an expensive proposition.

No one in their right mind would replace existing lines that can carry close to 6x the power that already exist with underground lines.

7

hike_me t1_jd8tu17 wrote

Reply to comment by HIncand3nza in Huge National Park suggested for around Katahdin. by Camooses

The state of Utah spent millions of dollars a year for years promoting their national parks until visitations exploded (Zion is pretty insane now, as is Arches which now requires timed entry reservations during peak visitation times).

All the while their state government kept passing bills asking the federal government to turn over all federal land to state or private owners.

1