Space, the Final Frontier… for Solar Panel Arrays?

“There’s no good solar project in the desert. But there’s less bad. And we’re at a point now where we have to settle for less bad, because the alternatives are more bad: more coal, more gas, climate apocalypse.” 

 Patrick Donnelly, director at the Center for Biological Diversity

It’s massive, and its central focus point is almost blinding as you drive down the I-15 just south of Las Vegas. Above photo. As a novelty, it is still impressive, fascinating and somewhat eye-catching in a positive way. But when so much vacant land, particularly vast open plains and deserts, becomes covered with solar arrays, will we still find beauty in these power-generating facilities? And what happens to the animals and plants displaced by these modern-day architectural machines? A huge issue for the Southwest, particularly power-guzzlers like Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

“Those energy generators could imperil rare plants and slow-footed tortoises already threatened by rising temperatures… They could also lessen the death and suffering from the worsening heat waves, fires, droughts and storms of the climate crisis… Researchers have found there’s not nearly enough space on rooftops to supply all U.S. electricity — especially as more people drive electric cars. Even an analysis funded by rooftop solar advocates and installers found that the most cost-effective route to phasing out fossil fuels involves six times more power from big solar and wind farms than from smaller local solar systems… But the exact balance has yet to be determined. And Nevada is ground zero for figuring it out…

“‘It’s three to six times more expensive to put solar on your roof than to put it in a large-scale project,’ said Jesse Jenkins, an energy systems researcher at Princeton University. ‘There may be some added value to having solar in the Los Angeles Basin instead of the middle of the Mojave Desert. But is it 300% to 600% more value? Probably not. It’s probably not even close.’” Sammy Roth, writing for the July 2nd LA Times.

While rooftop solar is clearly happening everywhere it is feasible, even mandated in some urban building codes for new construction, there are so many hidden costs. For example, for those installing rooftop solar panels on their houses, the relative cost per kilowatt hour is literally more than four times the cost if such power were generated by a more efficient public utility wind/solar facility. For huge power consumers, like massive casinos and distribution centers, their rooftop solar panels are far more cost efficient than individual residential equivalents.

“Sin City already has more solar panels per person than any major U.S. metropolis outside Hawaii, according to one analysis. And the city is bursting with single-family homes, warehouses and parking lots untouched by solar… There’s enormous opportunity to lower household utility bills and cut climate pollution — without damaging wildlife habitat or disrupting treasured landscapes… But that hasn’t stopped corporations from making plans to carpet the desert surrounding Las Vegas with dozens of giant solar fields — some of them designed to supply power to California. The Biden administration has fueled that growth, taking steps to encourage solar and wind energy development across vast stretches of public lands in Nevada and other Western states.” LA Times.

But as red state oil producing states have pushed hard against supporting alternative energy, even taxing homeowners who have solar but sill benefit from being on the grid, local utilities that have their own wind/solar arrays often use their political clout to tame rooftop solar panels as well. In Las Vegas and other desert communities, the battles rage. “[In Nevada, the] outcome could be determined, in part, by billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

“The so-called Oracle of Omaha owns NV Energy, the monopoly utility that supplies electricity to most Nevadans. NV Energy and its investor-owned utility brethren across the country can earn huge amounts of money paving over public lands with solar and wind farms and building long-distance transmission lines to cities… But by regulatory design, those companies don’t profit off rooftop solar. And in many cases, they’ve fought to limit rooftop solar — which can reduce the need for large-scale infrastructure and result in lower returns for investors.

“Mike Troncoso remembers the exact date of Nevada’s rooftop solar reckoning… It was Dec. 23, 2015, and he was working for SolarCity. The rooftop installer abruptly ceased operations in the Silver State after NV Energy helped persuade officials to slash a program that pays solar customers for energy they send to the power grid… ‘I was out in the field working, and we got a call: ‘Stop everything you’re doing, don’t finish the project, come to the warehouse,’ ’ Troncoso said. ‘It was right before Christmas, and they said, ‘Hey, guys, unfortunately we’re getting shut down.’ ‘

“After a public outcry, Nevada lawmakers partly reversed the reductions to rooftop solar incentives. Since then, NV Energy and the rooftop solar industry have maintained an uneasy political ceasefire. Installations now exceed pre-2015 levels.” LA Times

If we are looking at non-arable land in the desert as appropriate venues for large-scale solar farms, there are some species more vulnerable than others from this habitat transformation. “Tortoises are a keystone species. If they’re doing well, it’s a good sign of a healthy ecosystem in which other desert creatures — such as burrowing owls, kit foxes and American badgers — are positioned to thrive, too… [Before the builder of Vegas solar farms,] Primergy started building, the company scoured the site and removed 167 tortoises, with plans to let them return and live among the solar panels once the heavy lifting is over. Two-thirds of the project site will be repopulated with tortoises… Workers removed more tortoises during construction. As of January, the company knew of just two tortoises killed — one that may have been hit by a car, and another that may have been entombed in its burrow by roadwork, then eaten by a kit fox.

“Primergy Vice President Thomas Regenhard acknowledged the company can’t build solar here without doing any harm to the ecosystem — or spurring opposition from conservation activists. But as he watched union construction workers lift panels onto trusses, he said Primergy is ‘making the best of the worst-case situation’ for solar opponents.” LA Times.

Our lower birthrates and downward pressures from lack of water supplies in desert regions may temper both urban sprawl and the average size of housing, but in the end, human beings got ourselves into this climate change mess, and human beings are going to have live with complex balancing acts for the foreseeable future to create a viable future.

I’m Peter Dekom, and the notion of “my horrible is less impactful than your horrible” just may have to define the future of humanity… and planet Earth.