Pinal Partnership: Debunking myths about solar energy

(Disclosure: Jordan Rose, founder and president of Rose Law Group, is chair of the Pinal Partnership Board, and Court Rich, director of the firm’s renewable energy & utility infrastructure department, is chair of the organization’s Renewable Energy Committee.)

By Anthony Smith | Pinal Central

Keeping up with the growing need for energy to support our growing economy, commercial solar facilities are becoming a very real part of our landscape.

In response to this significant growth of solar energy projects in the county, Pinal Partnership featured at our August 2024 breakfast event an informative panel of experts to present our version of “MythBusters.” I wrote this article to share with you some of the more common myths linked to commercial solar facilities that were “busted” by our panelists.

1. Myth: Solar panel arrays increase nearby air temperatures.

Reality: The University of Arizona conducted field studies, taking air temperature measurements within the solar array and at various intervals outside the array. The result was that no measurable increase in air temperatures was found 100 feet from the edge of the array. BUSTED.

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