Solar panels in California

There has been talk of putting solar panels in a dried up lake in California.  The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) turned Owens Lake in California in to a dust bowl, at the same time creating one of the biggest polluters in the U.S.  That part of the country is said to have “the best sun in the country”.  The Department of water and power is hoping to turn the dried up lake into one of the world’s biggest source of solar power. They plan to do this by putting up to eighty square miles of giant solar panels across the lake and on some flat lands nearby. 

As usual with every big decision there are some skeptics.  Some of the skepticism comes from long history of arguments over land and water rights in the area.  Although Mark Bagley, a member of the Owens Valley Committee said, “But it’s promising if it’s done right, the right way.”  In order for there to be an agreement the DWP has to prove that the solar panels will prevent a number of wind-blown dust storms that have been happening since the lake dried up in 1929.  The Ted Schade pollution control district told the Times that in order for the panels to be put in place, the DWP must show that they will slow the wind from 60 mph to 15 mph.   There is an air bourn pollutant that comes from the cracks in the lake, it is called PM10 dust.  The DWP has spent $500 million already trying to control the pollutant, by covering ground with vegetation or a few inches of water in some places. 

I think that these solar panels are a really good idea, and if done right they could help save people and it’s a great way to use the resources that are there.