this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2023
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Solarpunk technology

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Technology for a Solar-Punk future.

Airships and hydroponic farms...

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Solar panels have always bothered me because they require such intense manufacturing and usage of scarce resources. TLDR of article: "Many people will argue that if low-tech solar panels are less efficient, we would need more solar panels to produce the same power output. Consequently, the resources saved by low-tech production methods would be compensated by the extra resources to build more solar panels. However, efficiency is only crucial when we take energy demand for granted, sacrificing some efficiency may gain us a lot in sustainability."

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[–] skyfaller 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Worth reading this investigation into the historic photos: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2023/08/16/untangling-the-mystery-of-the-worlds-first-rooftop-solar-panel/

Also worth pointing out there is some question as to whether these solar panels ever functioned. Someone should build one to test it out!