What I love about these schemes is that the solar “farms” bank their collected energy into giant battery arrays. Those batteries require the very caustic process of mining for things like lead and nickel. So while we’re not destroying the air, we’re destroying the Earth by strip mining for precious metals.
Those batteries require the very caustic process of mining for things like lead and nickel.
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Actually, lead is very environmentally friendly. Almost all lead is recycled.
I have 12KW PV’s on my roof and 3, 48V 1125 AH (@20hrs) batteries and while I did not do it to be environmentally friendly, I did it because the Federal Government would pay for 1/3rd of it and then I get nearly free electricity for the rest of my life. In Kentucky it supplies all my A/C and and heat most of the year. When the temp gets below 30° I turn on the gas boiler.
Crown brand lead-acid batteries are the most cost-effective batteries I’ve found for a home system or stealth camping trailer. Crown has been making industrial batteries for a long time.
The batteries have thick plates for the money and will be great for those preparing for the higher oil prices and debt collapse ahead. The layoffs of government employees, contractor employees and haircuts against pensions will be terrible and enormous indeed.