Here's a webinar on encouraging more solar panels over parking lots and along highway rights-of-way, a thing I don't care about.
But I do care about shade for people walking and biking, and have always wondered:
*Do the undersides of PV panels give off any absorbed heat?
*Would PV panel porticos over sidewalks/bike lanes/trails offer quality-of-trip benefits along with power generation?
https://environmentamerica.org/events/solar-on-highways-and-parking-lots/
@bikepedantic I care about shade for walking and biking right up until I actively don’t want it. I want sun’s warmth when it’s cold. And especially if you don’t clear snow, covering a trail from the top won’t stop drifts but will preclude them from getting melted
@Shadow This is all very true (and valid). Probably makes it a southern-specific idea. I do wonder if local power generation makes it easier to run low-power pavement warming elements
@bikepedantic we lived on a dead end alley in Pittsburgh with impassable sidewalks. (Obstructed by front steps from row houses)
So no amount of sidewalk clearing was enough, it was 4th (last) priority for plow or salt, and someone wanted to (and did eventually) build a 4 story house on the south side of the street, where the rest of the row was 3 stories. So it’s probably worse than when I lived there.
For that reason I opposed the house. A deal that resulted in the street being cleared would have mollified me and I bet instead nothing happened
@CelloMomOnCars @bikepedantic we have a spot in Providence that includes in-street trees. Doesn’t work everywhere tho
I don't think that solar panels would work either, given that they might be shaded from buildings nearby. This limits where they can be placed.
@spookie what if not everywhere is a city @CelloMomOnCars @Shadow
@Shadow @bikepedantic exactly my thought, especially with the possibility of ice formation. It's very dependent on local climate. The only way I could see it working is if the solar powered under pavement heat in the winter to keep it clear, but no idea if that would be cost effective since theres less sun in the winter
@bikepedantic So the answer here is sort of "it's complicated" but mostly "no". The panels do get warm/hot, but less heat is radiated down from them than is blocked (either reflected by the glass or turned to electricity) by the panels themselves. The panel heat tends to be carried away by the air as well, so gets convected away from what's underneath rather than radiated down onto passers-by.
FWIW it's one of the reasons that agri-voltaic systems (where they put panels up on sticks in agricultural fields) work so well. They block some of the sunlight, to be sure, but there's still plenty of light for the plants to use and the cooling effect they provide actually increases growth, since a lot of the plants we grow for food slow down their growth when it gets too hot. (And the cooling effect reduces evaporation some, so the ground stays damper which also helps the plants)
@wordshaper this all rings true to me, just wanted to confirm with the hive mind.
Bottom line is probably something like, roughly: Any PV shelter is going to be cooler for a traveler under it than sunlit area, and with adequate clearance (likely provided by standard headroom dimensions) will be about the same as a standard shaded area
@bikepedantic Yeah. Assuming the panel itself is a net win environmentally then using a panel for power in a shelter is absolutely worth it.
@bikepedantic one well known example of a covered bike lane is in South Korea. Also angle of Sun changes by season and time of day. So depending on the width of the panels, and direction of panels, you might be able to get shade in June/July and Sun in December/January when you are most likely to want it, at least in the Northern Hemisphere.
https://www.carandbike.com/news/south-korea-gets-new-solar-panel-covered-bike-lane-2342189
@ThomM yes, i see that one pop up every quarter or so on linkedin. I highly dislike it, because it's such an autocentric design, that the panels likely make worse (trapping particulates, reflecting noise, emphasizing being trapped on all sides), but it was the thing that got me thinking about the potential to do the same thing on an independent right of way.
@bikepedantic I think that design while not ideal, is realistic especially in car centric high heat places like Arizona, Texas, Florida, and California. Of course the political realities in those places will make it difficult. In my mind something like the Long Corridor might increase outdoor use especially around already developed, man-made lakes.
@bikepedantic I'm biased BC I like solar but IMO a bifacial module (aka it has glass, not white plastic, on the back), ideally frameless, is actually really nice and could make a good shade structure
@antonlodder i like it, sort of like a PV pergola
VERY climate specific
Here in the PNW, where sun is a rarity 9 months of the year, and a joy in the summertime, I'd go a long way out of my way to -avoid- a bike route with solar paneled roof
I thought about mounting a solar panel as a roof on my electric wheelchair, but decided against it -- because so much of the pleasure of biking and wheelchairing is being out in the natural world, sun on my head or rain on my face
@bikepedantic “*Do the undersides of PV panels give off any absorbed heat? “
I asked this question when we were thinking of adding solar, because our second floor is a converted attic that already has heat issues. We were told (don’t know, as we could not afford the project) that it would mitigate rather than add to heat.