re: Trump pitched Republican leaders on a SOLAR-PANELED border wall

Solar Power: Bad for the environment because it requires mining of raw materials.

Signed,

CNN

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You do realize,that in The Northern Hemisphere, A solar panel will gather more Sunlight on the longest days, if it is facing slightly northward? Get outside a little bit

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Is this bad sarcasm?

Typically south is best option followed by east or west with North being the worst option

You are joking right? You do realize why days are so long at the Arctic Circle In Summer, right?

The perfect thing is for the panel to move automatically,to stay aimed at the Sun all day,but I'm sure this would be very expensive on such a huge scale,but maybe not..

I stand by what I say about the panels facing slightly North, In the summer,that is where our Sunshine will come from,not directly above and East to West.
Panels facing south in Summer,wouldn't get any direct Sun.

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uh, Laredo,Tx is still a long damn way north of The Equator, It's a probably( just a guess) 200 miles north of the Tropic of Cancer)and I assure you,the days are much longer in summer there,than in winter.
Even at The Equator,you would want your Panel facing pretty much straight up,not south.

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Damn, man. I was willing to let you shut up and move on. All current utilities in Texas incentivize South facing panels. At the border, the tilt should be about 22 degrees for most of it. Since you won't believe me, call the utility company tomorrow and ask them.

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The graph shows the yearly (top) and summer (bottom) average hourly output for a square meter (m2) of solar panel facing south (red line) and west (blue line). The difference between the red line and the blue line shows how facing a solar panel in a different direction shifts the time that it is producing solar power – an east facing panel would shift the curve left of the south (red) curve. The graph also shows the average ERCOT wholesale electricity market price (black line). Over the entire year, the west-facing array produces about 14% less energy than the south-facing array. However, during summer months, the difference is just 1% less. If, over the entire year, we multiply the hourly output by the hourly price (black line), and look for the best placement, we get the orange line, which is at about 219 degrees, or 39 degrees west of south, almost right between south and west. If we consider an extreme case where we only care about the energy produced during peak times (3—7 p.m.), then a western orientation is the most preferred.

In the end, it all comes down to incentives. In Texas, the current structure of compensating for the energy produced by solar panels incentivizes south-facing panels. However, what utilities really want are west-facing panels to hit peak demand as hard as possible. Given the limited daily solar resource, the market calls for something in the middle. All of this is just for Austin, Texas. The answer changes depending on the local solar resource, local prices, and local incentive structure. As solar penetration increases, local grid authorities might want to reconsider how structuring solar rates and rebates can reduce, to a certain extent, solar panels’ impact on the grid.

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Perhaps you should shut up.

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the wall could be covered in solar panels and the electricity generated used to pay for the cost.

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Where does Mexico fit into this? How do Mexico and energy pay the same bill?

This will power the electric fence above the wall. Brilliant move!

And it all changes again as The Earth tilts on it's axis for the winter months In The Northern Hemisphere,then you would definitely want the panels facing more southward,because that is where the Sun will be shining from,but for fewer hours each day.

Of course,that bit that you posted says a lot about peak usage and requirements being part of the equation too,pretty interesting stuff.

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President Trump spent some time talking up his latest idea for the border wall. According to 3 people with direct knowledge of the meeting, Trump floated the idea that the wall could be covered in solar panels and the electricity generated used to pay for the cost.

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Game.
Set.
Match.