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@talesofcatlantis

"Wow, you're really good at this, you should do this professionally" okay but have you considered that I don't want to because that would suck all the fun out of this thing that I do for fun and entertainment and it's actually a conscious choice to not do this professionally because that would destroy the very reason I do this to begin with

"You should monetize this hobby" You should go outside and leave me alone

And, irrigation canals.

Saves 82% of water evaporation. 💧

The problem with putting solar panels over fields is that most farm machinery is big and so you can't get it through the panels unless the rows of panels are too far apart to get most of the benefit from the shade. So most of the cultivation has to be done by hand ... and the panels are usually low enough to make it a lot harder on the workers because you spend more time stooping over and at odd angles. So yeah, you do get greater yields per acre with this method!

... you also are spending a lot more on labor costs and your workers are getting hurt more to do it.

So in most cases, OP is right. Don't cover fields. Cover parking lots and canals.

Depends on what kind of fields you're putting them in. Grazing fields don't require farm machinery running through them, and the solar panels allow places for sheep and cattle to rest in the shade. This makes a huge difference to the comfort of the animals here in Australia; there are farms that have already incorporated solar panels for that reason.

The linked article in the earlier reblog is talking about crops like zucchini and eggplant, which afaik are generally harvested by hand. I don't know if such crops are usually planted by machine the way that wheat is, but considering there's an apparent increase in yield while also reducing the water use, the inconvenience would likely be worth it for at least some farms even if it changes the sowing technique. (Or alternately, you only cover part of the field, allowing for space between the rows of panels for machinery to be driven. Now that some tractors can be driven by GPS with minimal control by the farmer, that also reduces the chance of collisions and damage to the panels.)

Additionally, if there was wide uptake, I would expect that solar panels could be placed on higher supports, reducing the amount of stooping required. That's a potentially solvable problem. And with some parts of the world – including Australia – becoming drier as the climate changes, the fact that crops can be grown under solar panels with less water is no small matter. It could mean that more of the dwindling supply of irrigation water could be saved for crops like wheat, which are currently impractical to grow under solar panels.

But even if it isn't practicable for large-scale farming operations to put solar panels over crops, there's still millions of hectares of grazing land that could have solar panels put over it perfectly happily. We don't have to limit ourselves to car parks and canals.

I think the lesson is “ put solar panels where they would maximize benefit, and don’t assume you know where that is until you research it.”

I love when people try to gotcha me on my stance that all sports should be gender integrated with "even American football???" because I can instantly come back with "oh lmao, no, I don't think ANYONE should play American football at all, it's way too dangerous" like nice try but I know no amount of testosterone is going to protect you from the profound, life ruining health issues caused by getting repeated severe concussions over the course of several years. No one should play this sport.

“it’s also good to learn that life isn’t fair!” i don’t WANT children to accept unreasonable discipline from adults!! i don’t WANT children to expect the adults in their lives to punish at random and ignore their explanations!! the world isn’t fair but we could sure work to make it fairer

Thinking about a vampire dude bro who won't drink girl blood- because he's afraid it will estroginise him soy products style- getting trapped in a mental cage when he learns vampire dude who only bites other dudes reads as gay