Maybe some WX nerds on HN can answer, but uh... would this help with reducing convection cells that appear above large parking lots? I can look at radarscope during summer and see them roiding up over really large parking lots in my region. Do solar panels help reduce this 'heat island' effect?

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Scoundreller 9 hours ago | parent [-]

Top of my head thought:

Depends on the colour of the cars and pavement. A PV will send ~20% of the light energy hitting it down the wire, the rest = heat.

PVs don’t really reflect back much light for obvious reasons.

The increased surface area might help it radiate more heat at night on a clear day, unless the panels are flat and then it’s no change really.

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phyzome 8 hours ago | parent [-]

Is that 20% of the solar energy, or 20% of the visible light, or some other spectrum fraction? It's easy to lose track of what part of the spectrum you're discussing.

	▲	Scoundreller 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> The conversion efficiency of a photovoltaic (PV) cell, or solar cell, is the percentage of the solar energy shining on a PV device that is converted into usable electricity https://www.energy.gov/cmei/systems/solar-performance-and-ef...