LETTER: Heat from solar panels a cause for concern

Gary Good Las Vegas

2 months ago

MGM’s 100 megawatt Mega Solar Array, located on 640 acres north of Las Vegas, will furnish po ... — MGM’s 100 megawatt Mega Solar Array, located on 640 acres north of Las Vegas, will furnish power to 13 Strip properties and 36,000 hotel rooms and is expected to provide 90 percent of MGM’s daylight power needs on Saturday, June 25, 2021. Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal

The Bureau of Land Management wants to build solar panel farms on 12 million acres of Nevada land. The main concerns are overwhelming rural county employees, draining already-strained aquifers and disrupting desert habitat. I have another concern: How much heat will be emitted into the atmosphere from these panels?

We know asphalt roads and sidewalks create urban heat domes. We just experienced the hottest summer on record. Solar panels can reach temperatures of 150 degrees and up. I would ask Gov. Joe Lombardo to request Congress to study how much hotter the people, wildlife and livestock can expect the temperatures to rise in ours and surrounding states.