A couple of solar companies are pursuing this intriguing idea: just lay the solar panels on the ground. Eliminating all the racking & tracking hardware saves about 20% up front, which is enormous. Excited to see if this works long-term. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/a-100mw-solar-farm-in-texas-will-mount-panels-directly-on-the-ground
@drvolts Solar panels flat to the ground sounds problematical. Water and ice build up? Animals walking across? Build up of leaves? Or simply uses up too much space. Better to raise up the panels and put something useful underneath https://www.jackssolargarden.com/
@impermanen_ @drvolts Here in Colorado, providing some shade and wind protection to the ground can be an advantage.
@Gaythia @drvolts true. I live in Colorado as well. Will have to come check out https://www.jackssolargarden.com next time I’m up in Boulder. Looks great.
@drvolts @Gaythia they use less space: with tilted racking you have to space them apart so they don’t shade the row to the north.