Here's an idea re photovoltaics:

[trof]

The land under high voltage power lines is kept clear by power companies so that repair vehicles can get to damaged towers.

Miles and miles and thousands (millions?) of acres of open land.
Put solar photovoltaic panels on all those rights of way.
That would keep underbrush down (no sunlight), saving power companies millions.

And they're right under parts of the grid. Surely there's a way to connect?
OK, I'm not an electrical engineer, so I'm ready to be shot down.
Have at it.


Idea #2: All the median strips on interstate highways.

[Walleye]

1. Not an expert either myself but I think it's a great idea. We need to be innovative

[trof]

2. If we have any experts here I'd like to see them weigh in.

[Frasier Balzov]

3. The magnetic field under those lines might work at cross purposes.

It would be inefficient to generate solar voltage only to disrupt it with field effect from the overhead lines.

[ret5hd]

4. I walk under lines like this very often while hiking...

my compass always seems to act completely normal.

[womanofthehills]

17. I have 90' transmission lines delivering wind power crossing my land

I could have had 80’ but I wanted the magnetic fields up as high as I could. Tri Field meter reads 10 - 20 milligauss underneath the lines. Most transmission lines in NM are on private land and contracts are written so nothing else can be put on the right of way. My right of way is 100’ wide and the poles are now all metal so basically they require no maintenance.

[BadgerKid]

5. Rooftops, parking lots, deserts have decent sq. Ft.

Surely there’s something that can be done?

[Baked Potato]

6. Kept clear for fun!

[Brother Buzz]

7. Solar panels could reduce water evaporation in the arid west

[dumbcat]

8. Former engineer and photovoltaic consultant here

Sorry, but it wouldn’t really work. I’m also sorry that it would be too long and too hard for me to explain why. But it basically would have to do with the cost efficiency of transmitting and distributing the output of the PV cells over the distances required. Seems like a good idea but has a couple of issues with geographic scale.

[trof]

11. Give it a try, please?

[hunter]

12. I'll give it a try: The solar panels couldn't be linked directly to the overhead transmission lines.

They'd have to be linked to the substations of nearby small towns. These substations have only limited capacities.

The transformer stations serving the highest capacity transmission lines are few and far between, usually hundreds of miles apart.

Lower voltage lines serving these hypothetical photovoltaic panels couldn't be run directly underneath these high capacity lines for various practical engineering reasons. Undesirable electric currents will be induced in in any conductor that runs along the path of a high capacity power line. This can be a problem with ordinary barbed wire fences. The problem would be much worse for power lines serving these photovoltaic panels.

There are also safety concerns. If a 500 kilovolt line were to fall onto a lower voltage line underneath the consequences could be dire. Engineers like to minimize this danger. Usually lower voltage lines cross at right angles to much higher voltage lines, and sometimes they'll even dip underground to minimize this possible danger.

The biggest problem with solar electricity is that it doesn't work when the sun's not shining, which is most of the time.

[womanofthehills]

18. Also would not work because of contracts in place saying nothing

else will be put on that right of way. I know I made sure that was in my contract. In NM, so much of the land is forest service land, White Sands Missle Range so all the new wind transmission lines are mostly going thru private property and Pueblo land.

[GregariousGroundhog]

9. A lot, if not most, new power lines are underground

The directional drilling technology recently developed by the oil and gas can also be used to create utility chases for underground power lines, and it is significantly cheaper than trenching. It's still more expensive than overhead towers, but many utilities find the increased reliability and reduced headache of tree trimming worth the bump in cost.

[trof]

10. The high voltage transmission lines?

Not anywhere around here.
They're all on towers.

[hunter]

15. HVDC lines can be run underground, almost like gas pipelines, but it costs a lot more.

Not just for the underground power lines, but also for the AC / DC converters required at each end.

HVDC lines are most commonly used under the ocean where high voltage alternating current lines are only feasible for shorter distances.

Here's a map of HVDC connections in Europe:



Red lines are existing connections.

[womanofthehills]

19. Huge wind projects with monster transmission lines going up in NM by Pattern Industry

More likely to put low voltage lines underground near cities but in NM no way will they put any high voltage lines underground because they want to make money and the cost of underground transmission lines is very high. Ten yrs ago overhead lines for a 345 kv line was about 2 million a mile and underground almost 90 million a mile. I can’t imagine what it is now but I’m sure their are lots of government subsidies for wind power. There was talk in NM of going underground for a small portion of one of the transmission lines they wanted to put thru White Sands Missile Range extension. I think they dropped that route.

[rgbecker]

13. Here's an easier one: cover all the Walmart store roofs with panels.

The stores use the power, right there..no distance issues. Here's my calculations:

In US:

3571 Supercenters at 182,000 Sq ft. = 649,922,000 Sq ft.
376 regular discout stores at 106,000 Sq ft. = 39,856,000 sq ft.

Total of 689,778,000 sq ft. (Round to 650,000,000) times 9 watts per sq ft = 5,850,000,000 watts. = 5,850,000 KWs.

5 hrs a day at 365 (1825 total hours) times 5.85 million KWs = 10676.25 million KWhs per year. At $.10/KWh that's a $billion/yr.

Most, if not all, Walmart stores are unshaded by trees or other obstacles. Also they are located near other stores needing power.

Could be huge source of power without further damaging the environment, without taking up natural open spaces, like your plan to locate the panels under the power lines but with the advantage of being near the power users.

Great opportunity to reduce use of fossil fuels.

Hell, why not all the big box stores? Plenty of roofs available. Many out in the hot sun all day long.

[Caribbeans]

14. Walmart tried solar with Tesla and it didn't go so well

CNBC August 2020

Walmart sues Tesla over solar panel fires at seven stores

Walmart is suing Elon Musk's electric vehicle and clean energy company after Tesla solar panels atop seven of the retailer's stores allegedly caught fire, according a court filing.

The Walmart suit alleges breach of contract, gross negligence and failure to live up to industry standards. Walmart is asking Tesla to remove solar panels from more than 240 Walmart locations where they have been installed, and to pay damages related to all the fires Walmart says that Tesla caused.

The Walmart suit, filed in the state of New York, alleges that: "As of November 2018, no fewer than seven Walmart stores had experienced fires due to Tesla's solar systems - including the four fires described above and three others that had occurred earlier." The filing details evacuations, damaged property and inventory... https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/20/walmart-sues-tesla-over-solar-panel-fires-at-seven-stores.html

[hunter]

16. Our local Walmart has solar panels on its roof and car charging stations...

... in the parking lot from another provider.

Many corporations employ automobile commuters who work when the sun is shining. It's a good job perk if these employers offer free car charging. Parking lots shaded by solar panels are another good job perk.

Our Walmart doesn't have that, not that the typical Walmart employee has an electric car, but some of the employers in our city do offer that. There are people who drive to and from work "for free."