hoergen3d ago

Solar panels are creating an unexpected effect by forming rainfall clouds and thriving oases in the middle of the desert

#Erneuerbare #Renewable #GoodNews
ecoportal.net/en/solar-panels-…

The article published in Science has detailed how massive solar arrays in the Sahara Desert have started to trigger increased rainfall and vegetation growth.

They drastically lower the temperature around the sand that they sit on, effectively “greening” the desert. As the warm air around the panels has nowhere else to go but up, they naturally form massive rainclouds in a part of the world known for its dryness.

Solar panels are creating an unexpected effect by forming rainfall clouds and thriving oases in the middle of the desert

A recent study has found an unexpected benefit from the undisputed king of the renewable energy sector as solar panels are creating rain clouds in the desert.

ecoportal.net
Show threadts 🚇3d ago
@hoergen anyone have a link to the Science article? Couldn’t find it here
Show threadrubbel3d ago
@tsyum @hoergen https://www.science.org/content/article/massive-solar-farms-could-provoke-rainclouds-desert
Show threadAnne Delong2d ago

@rubbel @tsyum @hoergen

Here's an article in Nature. Yes, it's saying that the more wide-ranging effects would only occur if the area covered in solar panels was larger than that needed for all the energy needed in the world, and so merely speculative.

Show threadChris Samuel

@Anne_Delong @rubbel @tsyum @hoergen the article is published in Science and is focused on more realistic projects:

"They modeled the solar farms as nearly black fields that absorbed 95% of the incoming sunlight. When the solar farms exceeded 15 square kilometers, they found, the increased heat absorbed at the surface, contrasted with the relatively reflective sand surrounding them, appreciably increased the updrafts, or convection, that drive cloud formation."

https://www.science.org/content/article/massive-solar-farms-could-provoke-rainclouds-desert

Apr 13 at 1:16amWeb