this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2024
53 points (92.1% liked)

Green Energy

2234 readers
60 users here now

Everything about energy production and storage.

Related communities:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Solar panels — 80% of which are made in China — are so cheap that they're now being used to line garden fences in Germany and the Netherlands, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

Erecting vertical solar panels as fencing is an optimal configuration which can reduce support structures, reduce or eliminate cleaning of the photovoltaics, and provides a dual use in terms of fencing in northern and southern borders of plots of land. You can increase structural stability by arranging the panels in a zig-zag pattern much like the wavy single-brick walls used in Britain which adds strength in the in-plane direction. At the junctions, install vertical fenceposts or rigid stakes and the install is dead easy. This configuration is not suited for equatorial regions but northern or southern latitudes only see a 20-30% drop in efficiency at the extreme solar elevations, making this actually a very good solution for those areas of the globe.