News Solar trees

[ralphc1]

A local company is building solar trees that look like Acacia trees to be used in a new development that will combine retail and residential. The top of the tree will hold solar panels to produce electricity as well as provide shade. They are looking at some advantages over regular trees. They don't grow roots that move curbs and sidewalks. They don't have to be trimmed and there are no leaves and fallen branches to be cleaned up. They aren't attacked by insect or diseases that can destroy them. The city has had to remove many boulevard trees as oak, maple, elm and ash trees are dying off. The downside I see is that they don't convert carbon dioxide to oxygen.

 

[lifelessheap]

They also don't burn down.

 

[I Am Legion]

We need real trees. They clean our air, provide habitat for wild life, and provide shade and a natural aesthetic. The ones in the OP are ugly as fuck.

 

[hohner]

Who is going to clean them when a few birds shit on them and they can no longer collect our precious sunlight?

 

[Dan Torrance]

Who is going to clean them when a few birds shit on them and they can no longer collect our precious sunlight?

if we replace enough trees with them the birds won't be able to nest and then we won't have that issue.

 

[MrKontakos]

Lmfao fucking insane. Replacing trees with these hideous metal monoliths should cause outrage, but most people are fucking retarded so nothing shocks me anymore.

 

[Chest Rockwell]

This is what happens when you make hamburgers out of plants.

 

[ralphc1]

if we replace enough trees with them the birds won't be able to nest and then we won't have that issue.

Birds can certainly nest in these trees.

 

[ralphc1]

Who is going to clean them when a few birds shit on them and they can no longer collect our precious sunlight?

They get cleaned naturally when it rains.

 

[William Huggins]

They get cleaned naturally when it rains.

Without the use of special coating (which also degrade overtime) rain isn't going to wash, excuse the pun.

 

[William Huggins]

Birds can certainly nest in these trees.

There's a whole food chain to think about because there isn't any insects that will eat that tree

 

[ralphc1]

They also don't burn down.

They are also engineered to be able to withstand high winds.

I planted about 20 trees in 1978 when I built my house. They were at least 6 feet tall when planted. The 7 survivors have just gotten to a height where they provide shade now. The black walnut trees survived the best but they are being destroyed by a fungal disease and will soon die. The only species that aren't being killed by something now are fast growing species that are easily broken by winds and have pretty short lifespans. They need to be trimmed often but they should really be trimmed when dormant but snow often prevents that. Having them trimmed is expensive. Cities don't have the money to do it. Leaves block storm sewers and can cause flooded streets unless cities constantly sweep the streets.

 

[Alphaboy]

"Dear God,

So we went ahead and made some improvements on your design.

Love,
Solar Tree Company "

 

[Beechwood]

Looks nice. I can imagine they are expensive, and could see some mischief kids throwing rocks at the solar panels, but I can imagine some cities buying solar tress and installing them in parks.

That is one thing I like about my place, I have over 80 tress around the house. They help keep the place cooler in Floridas hot summer.

 

[lifelessheap]

They are also engineered to be able to withstand high winds.

I planted about 20 trees in 1978 when I built my house. They were at least 6 feet tall when planted. The 7 survivors have just gotten to a height where they provide shade now. The black walnut trees survived the best but they are being destroyed by a fungal disease and will soon die. The only species that aren't being killed by something now are fast growing species that are easily broken by winds and have pretty short lifespans. They need to be trimmed often but they should really be trimmed when dormant but snow often prevents that. Having them trimmed is expensive. Cities don't have the money to do it. Leaves block storm sewers and can cause flooded streets unless cities constantly sweep the streets.

I had old growth oaks and tons of olive trees. The oaks would try to kill me. Random branches would come down. They rot from the inside. I paid 5,000 to have four trees removed.

The olive trees are unkillable. Cut them down and they turned into crazy olive bushes.

 

[I Am Legion]

People are so fucking stupid. You want to create cleaner energy to avoid climate change, so you remove trees....that stop climate change:
"As trees grow, they help stop climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air, storing carbon in the trees and soil, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. Trees provide many benefits to us, every day."

People that remove trees because "they are messy" are idiots.

 

[hohner]

They get cleaned naturally when it rains.

Good thing droughts literally never happen.

 

[HeffDoesWant]

I really dont understand the hate.

Very clearly and as mentioned by the OP they are designed for use in built up areas where having live trees is impractical.

It's funny how many make up and then shoot down the idea of ripping up real trees just to replace them with these.

I can see them being useful in parking lots, train stations, busy city pedestrian areas.

I don't think they will ever become popular in places where the ground is actual soil.

 

[HeffDoesWant]

They get cleaned naturally when it rains.

Rain does the bulk of cleaning but extra cleaning is required usually annually or so.

Wouldn't be overly hard or expensive to install a spraying nozzle to rinse them. Plumbing water to it could be an issue so a moveable small water truck could plug in as required rinse them off and move on.

 

[90 50]

People are so fucking stupid. You want to create cleaner energy to avoid climate change, so you remove trees....that stop climate change:
"As trees grow, they help stop climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air, storing carbon in the trees and soil, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. Trees provide many benefits to us, every day."

People that remove trees because "they are messy" are idiots.

People are fucking stupid.