From pv magazine Germany
Unknown perpetrators stole 50 km of cable from a fenced solar farm in Ahorn-Berolzheim, Baden-Württemberg, in southern Germany, a theft involving a ton of material that could not be removed discreetly. Police estimated the value at about €100,000, with repair costs likely to be higher.
The thieves must have used one or more trucks. The theft occurred between 2 p.m. (CEST) on Sept. 17, and 7 a.m. on Sept. 18. The Lauda-Königshofen police station asked for information from anyone who observed suspicious activity near the site.
The solar farm in Ahorn-Berolzheim has a capacity of 11 MW. When commissioned in 2010, it was one of the largest ground-mounted systems in Germany.
German broadcaster Südwestrundfunk reported an increase in cable thefts in the region. In July, copper cables worth €200,000 were stolen from a major construction site in the Heilbronn district.
In Spain, police broke up a group this spring that specialized in stealing copper from photovoltaic systems in Andalusia and Extremadura. A total of 23 people were arrested.
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Another reason why remote solar farms dependent on existing utility transmission capacity are not as efficient as solar canopy micro grids at large (sub)urban parking lots, which offer rapid deployment of cheap renewable generation, storage & distribution right where most utility rate payers live, work & commute from large apartments & condos to shopping centers, business parks & various municipal facilities, like hospitals & community colleges.
Canopy structures will last for 75+years with minimal maintenance; that’s 3 generations of improving solar panels. No new utility transmission, site acquisition, or other site improvement spending required. And no permit or interconnection delays or armies of litigious NIMBYS. The benefits sre so obvious that all the new healthcare facilities in my county have already shaded 80% of their big parking lots with solar canopies. Mundane Solar Abundance,..They’re already getting it.