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Switzerland bolted 5,000 solar panels onto a dam wall 8,000 feet up in the freezing Alps. The plant now makes three times more winter power than any farm down in the valleys (www.ecoportal.net)

submitted 1 week ago by FoxtrotDeltaTango@sh.itjust.works to c/science@lemmy.world

19 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/49103510

Up on the dam, almost everything that looks like a problem becomes an advantage.

The plant sits above the fog line, in thin, clear air that lets far more sunlight through.

The higher you go, the stronger and cleaner the sunlight becomes.

Cold actually helps, because solar panels work more efficiently when they are not baking in heat.

And then there is the snow, which acts like a giant mirror, bouncing extra light up onto the panels from below.

Scientists call it the albedo effect, and it can lift a mountain plant’s output well beyond anything possible in the valley.

A test site at a similar height recorded yearly output far above a typical Swiss plant.

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[-] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 1 week ago

3 time as much as a valley installation did sound disappointingly meager, and I was about to comment so, until I read the actual article:
https://www.axpo.com/ch/en/energy/generation-and-distribution/solar-power/alpinsolar.html

Turns out, the heading and text snippet somewhat understates the wintertime production during the darkest months.
Look at this figure, almost flat production across the year, which is a huge thing:

But most importantly, it does not compare it to plants in the valleys, but to plants on the Swiss plateau, which is basically mainly flat and devoid of the usual very steep and shaded Swiss valleys.

So this is an unexpectedly great.
Alpine solar power plants for the win, as it seems!

[-] Fishnoodle@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

How did they build that dam in the first place with no road access? That seems impressive in itself

[-] catdog@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

I would first build a cable lift, then a pipeline for concrete, then the dam.

Warming: Not an expert at all; I live in the flattest country on earth.

[-] sunnie@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 week ago

Are you Dutch? Historically, Dutch engineers have handled some pretty impressive mountainous civil engineering projects.

[-] catdog@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago

Yes. And TIL :-)

Do you have more info?

[-] FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 6 points 1 week ago

Is that really maintainable?

[-] Krzd@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Dams usually already have maintenance infrastructure like prepared crane positions on top for inspections, so even bigger jobs like replacing panels can be done during regular inspections. And just switching some cables only require personal climbing gear

[-] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

And just switching some cables only require personal climbing gear

Speaking of which: I visited the Kaprun dams last year, and the upper one even has its own integrated climbing trail where you can just climb up the wall if you like:

https://www.zellamsee-kaprun.com/de/service/blog/mobo-107~4482