I hate winter for lots of reasons, but I guess this is the one reason I hate autumn. Sun’s low but the leaves haven’t dropped yet, so I get lots of shading.
This is why community solar is better than residential rooftop solar. One of many reasons anyway.
Everyone (including me) wants rooftop solar cause it seems like free real estate and the idea of having your own power generation is nice, but ground-based systems are definitely better.
And obviously that’s separate from the benefits of community solar.
why not both?
Because we have limited labor/money to spend on these things and rooftop solar is a lot more pricy per unit of power it produces.
Also, I personally don’t like the tension between shade trees and solar that OP is referring to here. It causes a lot of people to cut down or not plant trees—trees that will be essential in keeping people alive during the extreme heat waves of the future.
I also think we should move towards using roof space in functional ways—either social or gardening space, at least in areas that don’t have excessive amounts of snow that make peaked roofs necessary.
So, I’m not saying rooftop solar is evil. It can be better than the status quo, and I’m actually thinking of getting it myself. But it is a kind of hyper-individualist solution that I think would only have a small role in my ideal solarpunk society.
You know what, that’s completely fair
Flat roof for hanging out? Put solar above that for shade!