I have a very serious issue with this!
What about the profits for coal companies! How are they supposed to make money! What if they go out of business!
WON'T SOMEBODY THINK ABOUT COAL INDUSTRY PROFITS!
this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2026
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They're going to cool off the sun if they aren't careful. /s
I seriously used to work with a guy who thought wind turbines might have negative impact on the environment because it was "taking the wind".
Weeeeeeelllllll
So, like, not completely wrong?
Just out of curiosity, did you try to explain to him that it's the wind moving the turbine?
Switzerland is one of the only countries where it makes any sense to do this kind of nonsense because they're already almost completely on renewable power. I shudder to think of how high the installation cost per watt is when you need rope access teams drilling into concrete. Some IRATA certified electrician probably bought a vacation home with the money from just this project.
'wow the panels are 50% more efficient during winter, and it only cost 1000% more to install compared to a conventional rooftop'
*Ok I checked, it cost about 3.6 CHF per nameplate watt. Roughly double residential rooftop solar in Switzerland, which itself is again about double what a ground mount array costs. So still bad, not nearly as bad as I thought. This also is only the original install cost. Apparently they've had to do significant repairs, including replacing 270 panels, because of snow and ice damage.
And? Its new information for future construction, highlights the importance of doing this along with any repairs or new builds where you're doing some of that work anyway.
Confirms the energy is there.
And its literally on a damn, so storing excess with pumped hydro is can be done with like 0 transmission inefficiency.
'confirms the energy is there' buddy it's the sun, we already know it's there. It doesn't make sense to install capacity at 12 euros per watt when you can install capacity for 1 euro per watt or whatever the numbers actually are. I would be shocked if transmission losses are anywhere even close to cost efficiency losses.
The swiss do this sort of thing because they have the money to burn and place a high emphasis on aesthetics. They probably think this is less of an eyesore than ground mount so that makes it worth it for them.
My poibt is its a good demonstration case.
Yeah people and the media have this weird fascination with putting solar panels in new places. I don’t think finding locations to add them is as big of an issue for how much people seem to care and want to “solve” it.
In a lot of way, the electric grid binds us all together because we have to maintain and improve on the other side of that, it's a powerful way to motivate folks(rimshot). A lot of countries have had issues with this over the years.
Trying to put solar back in that "box" is not a good use of our time.
It's not cold fusion, but it just may be close enough.
Could fusion is and always was completely nonsense, it was a design flaw of a measurement instrument that made people think it worked, even though everyone who worked in nuclear fusion immediately dismissed as impossible. There's a great book that covers the subject called atomic adventures, written by one of the guys very involved in disproving the idea
You're very wrong about Switzerland. About 45% of their energy use is from oil and gas.
I could have sworn I looked this up recently, I might have been thinking of Austria.
*oh that figure includes combustion heating, I think I saw their domestic electricity production mix.
I imagine they had to do a lot of calculations in order to be sure this installation would not compromise the dam. But if this could be applied in other locations, it could be extremely benificial.
Honestly, I think it wouldn't be a problem in any dam. I'm sure they made all the required studies but dams are so thick and made to withstand such great forces that a couple of solar panels bolted on would be negligible. I bet 10cm of water rise would be a way bigger load
All those bolts are entry points for water if not thought through.
Especially considering anything attracted to the dam is going to add a vertical force that could do more to help with the lateral force from the water than it would do to bring the dam closer to collapse, though probably does closer to nothing to the overall physics of the dam.
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