Anecdotally speaking, I have heard of a massive California solar farm in an undeveloped area that has serious vandalism problems. Junkies will find ways through the fencing at night, strip copper and other materials from panels, and cause thousands in damages and lost energy just to extract enough scrap for a fix.

Nothing short of a face-to-face security response will deter these criminals, so there it is a challenging cost-benefit balance. At least panels in parking lots and other developed spaces have the benefit of witnesses. I'm sure a 20 foot climb up a steel beam over running water is a decent deterrent as well.

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happyopossum 5 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

> Anecdotally speaking

First hand experience here - worked with a non-profit that has a tiny solar and battery installation for a light display, and we have had constant theft and vandalism problems with it. It's not even easy to get to - those meth-heads had to work to steal the lead acid batteries and copper wire...

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rottencupcakes an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

And the one thing California absolutely will not do is put these people in jail.

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onlypassingthru 18 minutes ago | parent [-]

A company nightwatchman making $20/hr would cost about $80k/yr, all in.

One prisoner costs the California taxpayer $125k/yr, all in.

Maybe the company should foot the bill for a security guard instead of asking the taxpayers to subsidize their business.

	▲	Retric a few seconds ago \| parent \| next [-]
		24/7 coverage 365 days a year at 20$/h = 175,200$/year.
	▲	happyopossum 3 minutes ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Your takeaway is that every solar installation, regardless of size, now has an $80k/year minimum cost associated with its' mere existence because California can't get its' house in order?
	▲	zdragnar 9 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		This implies that vandals only attack one business, instead of being a public nuisance or menace to everyone.