• ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org
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    1 month ago

    They’re black, duh. Yes, some 20% of incoming energy becomes electricity but the rest gets turned into heat. A reflective (white) material heats up way less.

    • porksnort@slrpnk.net
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      1 month ago

      So you ignored the fact that it’s not the earth that is getting heated, it’s the panels. So when the sun goes down the thin panels and the air around them cool down quickly, much more quickly than a large mass of hot rocks and dirt.

      ‘Thermal mass’ is a huge factor here. You ignored the basic finding that buildings with panels on the roof are cheaper to cool just because of the shading effect of the panels.