Cyprus has the land, the sun, and the resources for solar farms so what’s in the way of most electricity coming from solar power?
If it had easy access to non-renewable energy like countries in the ME, it would be different, but we’re already paying exorbitantly high prices for electricity on the island. Seems like this would be an economical solution.
Because this is Cyprus.
Someone is benefitting from selling you electricity produced by burning mazut, and they’re uninterested to change the situation.
Well, they are producing them. The issue with them however, is there non stable production and their lackluster productivity.
Without a backup to power the system when at lower solar power output, a modern standard of living is impossible. The backup cannot be powered down easily when solar is working leading to higher infrastructure costs.
That’s ignoring that a lot of the materials that go into their construction are already at peak production.
We are wasting our time. The future is nuclear and pan-european electrical grid connectivity.
The grid can only take back a certain amount from consumer-grade solar panels. EAC needs to examine whether it can take up the electricity produced by each household when an application is made. Not a simple plug and play expansion is possible.
In Lebanon after the government had no more money to run power station. Almost 50% of people installed solar panels. I’m writing this comment on a PC powered by solar power. We have 20 solar panels and 1 7500 watt lithium battery.
Because we live in Uganda
Because *this*, takes space. I think its better on roofs than in destroyed habitat. Cyprus is not a desert *yet*.
Ok, look at the border of the field.
Basically, lots of trees were cleared to make that solar farm. In Cyprus we don’t have many trees. So it has an outsize impact on a small island already dealing with desertification.
You can see that in classic Cyprus fashion, it’s not really about environmental protection, but a rush to make as much money as quickly as possible without giving a shit about long term impacts (and also in classic fashion, the govt is sitting on its ass doing nothing but cashing the cheques).
i’m not saying we shouldn’t have more solar (we should) but that we shouldn’t do it at the expense of huge environmental damage. There are many areas that are suitable for photovoltaics that don’t require huge habitat destruction and could even benefit from the shade provided to rejuvenate degraded soils.
Oh sh*t we haven’t noticed! Thank you for your astute observation!
Require large areas to install, expensive to manufacture, costly to maintain, hugely dependent on weather conditions, which only makes it a viable energy source for regions with consistent sunlight year-round which is a small percentage of the world; near the equator.
Then you have to deal with two major challenges. Energy storage & distribution, and the limited life-span of the panels.
Solar systems cant replace fossil fuel as an energy source alone, on a national scale, we need to combine all renewable energy resources to come close to the ever-growing energy consumption baseline.
Why no more of this? Because people LOVE the smell of burning oil in the morning !
Because fucking CYTA
Solar cannot be the only solution. Not only are they not as effective as they claim, they require a lot of maintenance (cleaning and replacement parts) and they need to be fully replaced every 20-25 years. Batteries are also needed for night time if a state wishes to completely revamp its energy supply for public services such as street lights, water pumps, etc. People who will not have enough roof space will also need additional power for heating and A/C along with all the rest. And let’s not forget that new energy grids are needed to be set up while the current one remains in operation before they begin to remove the existing ones.
Best solution is an amalgamation of renewable resources such as wind and solar but for Cyprus that may not be enough. Also, where is the land that you claim is enough to supply for everything and everyone? Is it near other houses?? The temperature of the area around solar power stations increases by a few degrees and wind farms produce a lot of noise pollution so these things are needed to be installed away from cities and homes. The photo you are showing us may be enough for just a few houses.
Are we willing to start cutting down trees wherever we can find some space for them ? These solutions are not as simple as they sound. What about financing ? How will we pay for them ? More loans and higher taxes? Lowering government wages would not be enough… not even close actually!! We are talking about billions of euros. The Cypriot government requires about 9 billion per year to function. Money does not grow on trees so they will have to cut down on many of their services which are already being underfunded most of the times.
Moreover, if anyone here thinks they can do a better job at raising these issues to the public and actually managing to convince everyone to come together and solve this then please… by all accounts give it a whirl boys and girls. Get a taste of what it’s like to speak to the general public about climate change and the kind of sacrifices they need to make in order to achieve a carbon neutral state and then you can start criticising the government about not doing enough. A lot of the people are not even willing to stop throwing their crap out of their car windows or even hang their clothes to dry rather than use a dryer (in Cyprus) and you’re talking about asking them to minimise their energy consumption because of what? Some theory which they don’t even know what it’s about exactly for someone in the distant future? They want to be wearing a t-shirt with no slippers in their badly insulated houses during the winter because wearing a little bit of extra clothing inside is uncomfortable. We’re still trying to convince them to turn off the lights when they leave the room and you’re asking why isn’t there more of this ?
There will never be more of “this” because people everywhere will always put themselves first before everyone else. Actually, if we were all like the Japanese then maybe we would have a chance. But, let’s be serious. Everyone wants to live like the Kardashians and be recognised for doing the tiniest bit of effort when it’s for others.
If you managed to read all of the above, then I apologise. Im actually quite the optimist. But I can’t stand the ignorance of some ppl when they accuse others of not doing more for them when they are doing nothing to serve others.
So, anyway… in short, the reason why there isn’t more of this is because we aren’t asking ourselves what we need to do to achieve this but what others need to do for us to achieve this.
Believe me as most of the cypriots are wondering
Don’t cut down the trees for solar. That’s idiotic.
Plus the grass helps hold carbon on the ground, where in a solar far is little to none.
Additionally, the energy and fossil fuel waste used and the pollution generated to create the panels should make you think twice.
Research the subject much more deeper than the idea of “why not more of this”.
Learn how it’s made step by step, piece by piece.
Solar is great for places where power reach is a remote idea (e.g a remote location somewhere in the woods). It should not be a total replacement of your normal power as that would shift a lot of things in the wrong way.
Now i have to figure out why this was suggested to me on my feed! 🤨
Fun fact… Having solar panels to power a house and not being connected to the grid is considered illegal! 🤦
I’ve seen a few people present theoretical arguments about solar panel effeciency, productivity, predicability and land “consumption” in the comments and although these are contributing factors truth is Cyprus very well placed to make use of a lot more solar panels than it already does.
One hugely important factor is EAC and the monopoly it holds in energy production (although I am pretty sure that’s changing). Fund Mismanagement, lack of innovation, nepotism, dead weight have costed the consumer millions. Just look into the emissions targets we’re missing and will pay for in the next year’s. A huge part of Cyprus’ energy policy does revolve around keeping EAC afloat, which is not a horrible thing but has stifled growth in renewable energy production.
The other probably more important (but not totally unrelated) factor is that Cyprus’ energy power grid is outdated and cannot handle more energy spikes produced by panels during sunny summer days, (without completing shutting down vasilikos power generators).
EAC is actually stopping provide firms build new solar panel farms and limiting consumers In installing them because Our power grid can’t handle it as it currently stands
*Disclaimer I know a lot of decent people working in EAC and doing perfectly good jobs
They originally planned to build some solar pannels in amoxosto area before the war but it was scrapped after they lost the land
20 comments
Cyprus has the land, the sun, and the resources for solar farms so what’s in the way of most electricity coming from solar power?
If it had easy access to non-renewable energy like countries in the ME, it would be different, but we’re already paying exorbitantly high prices for electricity on the island. Seems like this would be an economical solution.
Because this is Cyprus.
Someone is benefitting from selling you electricity produced by burning mazut, and they’re uninterested to change the situation.
Maybe you should do more research…
[Solea Valley 10 MW Project (COMPLETED)](https://www.houseofinvestment.com/portfolio-item/solea/)
Well, they are producing them. The issue with them however, is there non stable production and their lackluster productivity.
Without a backup to power the system when at lower solar power output, a modern standard of living is impossible. The backup cannot be powered down easily when solar is working leading to higher infrastructure costs.
That’s ignoring that a lot of the materials that go into their construction are already at peak production.
We are wasting our time. The future is nuclear and pan-european electrical grid connectivity.
The grid can only take back a certain amount from consumer-grade solar panels. EAC needs to examine whether it can take up the electricity produced by each household when an application is made. Not a simple plug and play expansion is possible.
In Lebanon after the government had no more money to run power station. Almost 50% of people installed solar panels. I’m writing this comment on a PC powered by solar power. We have 20 solar panels and 1 7500 watt lithium battery.
Because we live in Uganda
Because *this*, takes space. I think its better on roofs than in destroyed habitat. Cyprus is not a desert *yet*.
Ok, look at the border of the field.
Basically, lots of trees were cleared to make that solar farm. In Cyprus we don’t have many trees. So it has an outsize impact on a small island already dealing with desertification.
here is a view of another solar farm [https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/02/21/churchs-photovoltaics-park-fails-the-green-litmus-test/](https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/02/21/churchs-photovoltaics-park-fails-the-green-litmus-test/)
You can see that in classic Cyprus fashion, it’s not really about environmental protection, but a rush to make as much money as quickly as possible without giving a shit about long term impacts (and also in classic fashion, the govt is sitting on its ass doing nothing but cashing the cheques).
i’m not saying we shouldn’t have more solar (we should) but that we shouldn’t do it at the expense of huge environmental damage. There are many areas that are suitable for photovoltaics that don’t require huge habitat destruction and could even benefit from the shade provided to rejuvenate degraded soils.
Oh sh*t we haven’t noticed! Thank you for your astute observation!
Require large areas to install, expensive to manufacture, costly to maintain, hugely dependent on weather conditions, which only makes it a viable energy source for regions with consistent sunlight year-round which is a small percentage of the world; near the equator.
Then you have to deal with two major challenges. Energy storage & distribution, and the limited life-span of the panels.
Solar systems cant replace fossil fuel as an energy source alone, on a national scale, we need to combine all renewable energy resources to come close to the ever-growing energy consumption baseline.
Why no more of this? Because people LOVE the smell of burning oil in the morning !
Because fucking CYTA
Solar cannot be the only solution. Not only are they not as effective as they claim, they require a lot of maintenance (cleaning and replacement parts) and they need to be fully replaced every 20-25 years. Batteries are also needed for night time if a state wishes to completely revamp its energy supply for public services such as street lights, water pumps, etc. People who will not have enough roof space will also need additional power for heating and A/C along with all the rest. And let’s not forget that new energy grids are needed to be set up while the current one remains in operation before they begin to remove the existing ones.
Best solution is an amalgamation of renewable resources such as wind and solar but for Cyprus that may not be enough. Also, where is the land that you claim is enough to supply for everything and everyone? Is it near other houses?? The temperature of the area around solar power stations increases by a few degrees and wind farms produce a lot of noise pollution so these things are needed to be installed away from cities and homes. The photo you are showing us may be enough for just a few houses.
Are we willing to start cutting down trees wherever we can find some space for them ? These solutions are not as simple as they sound. What about financing ? How will we pay for them ? More loans and higher taxes? Lowering government wages would not be enough… not even close actually!! We are talking about billions of euros. The Cypriot government requires about 9 billion per year to function. Money does not grow on trees so they will have to cut down on many of their services which are already being underfunded most of the times.
Moreover, if anyone here thinks they can do a better job at raising these issues to the public and actually managing to convince everyone to come together and solve this then please… by all accounts give it a whirl boys and girls. Get a taste of what it’s like to speak to the general public about climate change and the kind of sacrifices they need to make in order to achieve a carbon neutral state and then you can start criticising the government about not doing enough. A lot of the people are not even willing to stop throwing their crap out of their car windows or even hang their clothes to dry rather than use a dryer (in Cyprus) and you’re talking about asking them to minimise their energy consumption because of what? Some theory which they don’t even know what it’s about exactly for someone in the distant future? They want to be wearing a t-shirt with no slippers in their badly insulated houses during the winter because wearing a little bit of extra clothing inside is uncomfortable. We’re still trying to convince them to turn off the lights when they leave the room and you’re asking why isn’t there more of this ?
There will never be more of “this” because people everywhere will always put themselves first before everyone else. Actually, if we were all like the Japanese then maybe we would have a chance. But, let’s be serious. Everyone wants to live like the Kardashians and be recognised for doing the tiniest bit of effort when it’s for others.
If you managed to read all of the above, then I apologise. Im actually quite the optimist. But I can’t stand the ignorance of some ppl when they accuse others of not doing more for them when they are doing nothing to serve others.
So, anyway… in short, the reason why there isn’t more of this is because we aren’t asking ourselves what we need to do to achieve this but what others need to do for us to achieve this.
Believe me as most of the cypriots are wondering
Don’t cut down the trees for solar. That’s idiotic.
Plus the grass helps hold carbon on the ground, where in a solar far is little to none.
Additionally, the energy and fossil fuel waste used and the pollution generated to create the panels should make you think twice.
Research the subject much more deeper than the idea of “why not more of this”.
Learn how it’s made step by step, piece by piece.
Solar is great for places where power reach is a remote idea (e.g a remote location somewhere in the woods). It should not be a total replacement of your normal power as that would shift a lot of things in the wrong way.
Now i have to figure out why this was suggested to me on my feed! 🤨
Fun fact… Having solar panels to power a house and not being connected to the grid is considered illegal! 🤦
I’ve seen a few people present theoretical arguments about solar panel effeciency, productivity, predicability and land “consumption” in the comments and although these are contributing factors truth is Cyprus very well placed to make use of a lot more solar panels than it already does.
One hugely important factor is EAC and the monopoly it holds in energy production (although I am pretty sure that’s changing). Fund Mismanagement, lack of innovation, nepotism, dead weight have costed the consumer millions. Just look into the emissions targets we’re missing and will pay for in the next year’s. A huge part of Cyprus’ energy policy does revolve around keeping EAC afloat, which is not a horrible thing but has stifled growth in renewable energy production.
The other probably more important (but not totally unrelated) factor is that Cyprus’ energy power grid is outdated and cannot handle more energy spikes produced by panels during sunny summer days, (without completing shutting down vasilikos power generators).
EAC is actually stopping provide firms build new solar panel farms and limiting consumers In installing them because Our power grid can’t handle it as it currently stands
*Disclaimer I know a lot of decent people working in EAC and doing perfectly good jobs
They originally planned to build some solar pannels in amoxosto area before the war but it was scrapped after they lost the land